http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/ Sandstone Press is a publisher of books. Located in Highland Scotland, the company is characterised by high editorial and design standards, internationalism, and a strong engagement with the contemporary world using modern methods. Sandstone Press now has a number of titles, including Jane Rogers’ Man Booker longlisted The Testament Of Jessie Lamb, available on Amazon Kindle, Apple Bookstore and from other retailers. en webmaster@sandstonepress.com Copyright 2013 2013-05-16T19:22:00+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.comhttp://www.sandstonepress.com/images/sandstone-press-logo.gif http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/05/2013/may_titles_columbas_iona_and_the_folded_man/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/05/2013/may_titles_columbas_iona_and_the_folded_man/ Landing on bookshop shelves today are our two titles for May. Two very different books, both wonderful. Don’t let them rest there. COLUMBA’S IONA Rosalind K Marshall Commissioned by the Iona Cathedral Trust from historical author Rosalind K Marshall to mark the 1450th anniversary of Columba’s arrival on Iona, Columba’s Iona is a thorough but accessible history of the island and its influence since that time. Of tremendous interest to many will be the story of the Abbey reconstruction and the Iona Community. We have produced a beautiful hardback, to match Rosalind’s beautiful text, and three photographic section with many rarely seen images. John Hewer, of Iolaire Typesetting in Newtonmore, has done a particularly splendid job on this, mostly using Sabon but incorporating the rarely seen Columcille font into the chapter headings. The jacketed hardback is available now and the ebook will follow soon. THE FOLDED MAN Matt Hill Placed second in the hugely prestigious Dundee International Book Prize, Matt Hill has produced the most amazing novel of a coming (not long now!) dystopian Britain. Already praised to high heaven by Stephen Fry and the Dundee judges, the book is now picking up glowing reviews in the press, on the internet, and on the Amazon web site. Again, hard copy is available in the shops and on the internet now. The ebook will follow soon. 2013-05-16T19:22:00+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/04/2013/jammy_dodger_longlisted_for_the_desmond_eliot_prize/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/04/2013/jammy_dodger_longlisted_for_the_desmond_eliot_prize/ Congratulations are due to Irish author Kevin Smith now that we can at last reveal that his hilarious novel, Jammy Dodger, has been longlisted for the Desmond Eliot Prize 2013. The Desmond Elliott Prize is an annual award for a first novel written in English and published in the UK. Worth £10,000 to the winner, the prize is named after the literary agent and publisher, Desmond Elliott. Charismatic, witty, and waspish, Elliott lived his life with verve. He drank only champagne, always crossed the Atlantic on Concorde and lunched at Fortnum and Mason. His office was in Mayfair and he had homes in St James’s and on Park Avenue. Desmond Elliott’s resolve to support new writers will live on in the shape of the prize. When choosing the winner, a panel of three judges will look for a novel which has a compelling narrative, arresting character, and which is both vividly written and confidently realised. The Bookseller opens its article thus: Scottish indie publisher Sandstone Press has scored a nomination on the longlist for the Desmond Elliott Prize 2013 with Kevin Smith’s Jammy Dodger. If you are visiting the Sandstone Press web site for the first time after reading this press we bid you welcome. Please do read Jammy Dodger (chances are you will love it) but also browse around our many other fiction and non-fiction titles. 2013-04-25T09:40:04+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/04/2013/new_titles_for_april/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/04/2013/new_titles_for_april/ We are very proud to announce the appearance of two great new titles. The first flush of both have left the warehouse and a second flush is now following, and it looks like these first ‘first edition, first run’ copies will soon be sold. THE WOMAN WHO WALKED INTO THE SEA Mark Douglas-Home’s second Sea Detective mystery was brilliantly reviewed by Allan Massie in The Scotsman only last weekend, as you can read (and link) elsewhere on this web site. We understand that more reviews are to follow this weekend and continuing so do keep your eyes peeled. This title is available as both paperback and ebook. THE ANCIENT PINEWOODS OF SCOTLAND Clifton Bain’s beautiful and important book is speedily being recognised as brilliantly written, timely and important. Available as a high quality hardback, it is packed with wildlife drawings by Darren Rees, photographs, and maps. Clifton will be interviewed by Mark Stephen on tomorrow’s (Saturday 20th April) Outdoor Show on Radio Scotland, and reviews will be appearing in periodicals as diverse as diverse as The Scots Magazine and Country Life. 2013-04-19T07:51:43+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/04/2013/london_book_fair/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/04/2013/london_book_fair/ Managing Director Robert Davidson and Editorial Director Moira Forsyth will be at the London Book Fair on Monday 15th and Tuesday 16th April. Already with very full schedules they will located at the Sandstone Press table within the Publishing Scotland complex at H350. If you feel you would like to drop by, please do so. 2013-04-11T09:53:47+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/03/2013/new_releases_in_march/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/03/2013/new_releases_in_march/ We are delighted to announce that two new titles have been released from Sandstone Press. The Ottoman Motel is the debut novel of an exciting young Australian talent, Christopher Currie. Already short listed for the Commonwealth Book Prize, Pacific Region, it has taken its home country by storm. With a cover endorsement from Jane Rogers and cover design by Guilherme Gustavo Condeixo it is available from all good bookshops and on the internet and as an ebook. First published in 2007 and one of Sandstone’s first big successes we have now made White River, Jamie Whittle’s account of his journey up and down the River Findhorn, available as a mass market paperback. With a cover endorsement from Robert Macfarlane and cover design by Latte Goldstein of River Design in Edinburgh it is available from all good bookshops, on the internet and as an ebook. Trade purchases can be made through Faber Factory Plus or directly from our distributor, MDL. Please see our Contact and Representation page. 2013-03-22T07:12:58+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/03/2013/february_march_2013_newsletter/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/03/2013/february_march_2013_newsletter/ This newsletter went out to our Newsgroup today, Thursday 7th March. If you would like to receive future Newsletters from Sandstone Press please simply email info@sandstonepress.com PUBLISHING FROM HIGHLAND SCOTLAND IN 2013 With spring arriving early in the Highlands of Scotland we are delighted to announce the beginning of our publishing programme for the year. More ambitious, more international than ever, we take our fiction list to the Pacific Rim, back to the Napoleonic War era and forward to a dystopian future, with great new crime and romance titles; while our non-fiction ventures into the ancient pinewoods, onto the fells, the mountains and into the skies to reflect both a sense of adventure and a real sense of concern and appreciation of our environment; we visit Columba’s Iona on the 1450th anniversary of the saint’s arrival, and return to Cold War Europe with The Tailor of Inverness. Meanwhile, our first two titles have been released in both hard paperback and ebook forms, and the second two are in the warehouse Link to Forthcoming page: http://bit.ly/gVLbXh THE HOUSE OF TREMBLING LEAVES Julian Lees Julian Lees’ follow up to 2010’s The Fan Tan Players is already garnering fine reviews. Rosy Thornton, author of last year’s Ninepins, describes it as ‘a compelling novel about the power of female friendship’. Running along a lifetime’s duration it encompasses pre-war Cambridge, occupied Malaysia, and Malaysia during the Communist Insurgency. At its heart though, is the friendship of two women and their love for a daughter. This title is available both as paperback and ebook now. Link to the Trembling Leaves book page: http://bit.ly/15xrYG2 THE NEW NORTHWEST PASSAGE Cameron Dueck With the effects of global warming ever more apparent, Cameron Dueck acquired the yacht Silent Sound and sailed through the Northwest Passage, which is now occasionally open, from the Pacific to the Atlantic around Canada’s northern coast. This feat has been accomplished by far fewer people than have stood on the summit of Everest. On this voyage to the front line of climate change the crew encountered ice, wildlife, and a native population struggling to meet the challenges that not only changing climate bring but also the modern world. Cameron’s film of the voyage, also titled The New Northwest Passage recently won Best Documentary at the Real to Real Film Festival in Winnipeg. The book is available as both paperback and ebook now. Link to the New Northwest Passage book page: http://bit.ly/RWynVM THE OTTOMAN MOTEL Christopher Currie This gripping mystery was short listed for the Commonwealth Book Prize in 2012. Jane Rogers, author of The Testament of Jessie Lamb, has this to say about it: ‘Vividly and engagingly written, THE OTTOMAN MOTEL speeds the reader through a plot full of surprising twists and turns. Small-town Australia at its most sinister.’ It is a story of injured childhood which is also tense and page turning. The Ottoman Motel will be available as paperback and ebook on the 21st March but can be pre-ordered now. Link to The Ottoman Motel book page: http://bit.ly/10jlxGF WHITE RIVER Jamie Whittle This title was one of Sandstone’s early successes and is now being made available in a more popular format across Britain and Ireland. Jamie Whittle is both an environmental lawyer and traveller. As such he brings a different voice to the planet’s very real environmental concerns but one that is as appreciative, and poetic, as that of any artist or scientist. I it Jamie walks to the source of the Findhorn in Morayshire, one of Scotland’s great rivers, and canoes back down to its mouth. White River describes what he sees and the people he meets while discussing its future and its place in the wider environment. White River will be available as paperback and ebook on the 21st March but can be pre-ordered now. Link to White River book page: http://bit.ly/WYGDsy 2013-03-07T15:30:36+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/03/2013/sandstone_press_titles_september_2013_to_march_2014/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/03/2013/sandstone_press_titles_september_2013_to_march_2014/ Sandstone Press Editorial Director Moira Forsyth used this slide show to present our titles and covers for September 2012 to March 2014 at the Faber Factory Plus Sales Conference at Bloomsbury House on Thursday 28th February. Please note that The Tailor of Inverness has been brought forward to July and that the author Matthew Zajac will be appearing at the Inverness Book Festival in August. Among many other activities Moira met with Faber and Faber’s Art Director, Donna Payne, and we have a portrait of them together on our Facebook. FFP Sales Slides February 2013 2013-03-02T12:25:27+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/02/2013/cameron_dueck_wins_winnipeg_film_festival_real_to_reel_documentary_with_the/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/02/2013/cameron_dueck_wins_winnipeg_film_festival_real_to_reel_documentary_with_the/ We are delighted to send our heartiest congratulations to Cameron Dueck whose film ‘The New Northwest Passage’ has won Best Documentary at the Winnipeg Film Festival.  Cameron, who directed the film, is also the author of the book The New Northwest Passage: a voyage to the front line of climate change published this month (February 2013) by Sandstone Press Ltd. We are trying to ascertain whether this brilliant film is to be distributed in Britain and Ireland and will let you know as soon as we do. Meanwhile, the book is available from all good book shops, who can order through our selling agents at Faber Factory Plus, and on the internet as both hard copy and ebook. Sandstone Press has furnished the book with an outstanding jacket and a 16 page full colour photo section. You can see the jacket and view our promotional video (which is also the film’s trailer) by visiting Cameron’s book page on this web site. All necessary links are given in Paragraph One. ENDORSEMENT FROM ALISTAIR McINTOSH, author of Hell and High Water: Climate Change, Hope and the Human Condition ‘The Arctic is the canary down the mine of climate change; the Northwest Passage its most iconic indicator. The tragedy is that Cameron Dueck found it navigable. The pleasure is his telling of the tale.’ 2013-02-24T09:52:41+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/02/2013/february_publications_the_house_of_trembling_leaves_and_the_new_northwest_p/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/02/2013/february_publications_the_house_of_trembling_leaves_and_the_new_northwest_p/ We are delighted to announce the publication today, Thursday 21st February 2013, of the first two books in our 2013 list. Direct access to both their Waterstones and Amazon web pages can be made from the book pages on this web site. The House of Trembling Leaves Julian Lees Following his 2010 success with The Fan Tan Players Julian Lees remains in the east with this compelling romance. His grasp and descriptions of place remain as secure as before, if not more so, as does his empathy with the people of the region. The House of Trembling Leaves is a 20th century romance about womanly friendship through life, motherhood, war, divisions and endurance. Our colleagues at Bookbag describe it as ‘an unusual story that takes us through laughter, tears and, sometimes over the edges of our seats as we witness the sort of enduring friendship that we all wish we could have’. Book page and links: http://bit.ly/15xrYG2 The New Northwest Passage: a voyage to the front line of climate change Cameron Dueck Because of global warming the fabled North West Passage is now open sufficiently to be sailed through from time to time. In fact, fewer people have done this than have stood on the summit of Everest. Cameron Dueck and his crew (not always pulling entirely together) completed this voyage and this book is their story, the story of the Passage and the people and wildlife who live around it, and a timely observation of the effects of global warming. There is also a film of the voyage and the whole endeavour inhabits the same sort of territory as another film of the moment, Chasing Ice. We have a promotional trailer on our book page. Book page: http://bit.ly/RWynVM 2013-02-21T11:23:53+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/02/2013/eden_court_media_release/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/02/2013/eden_court_media_release/ Media Release 13.02.2013 Eden Court Theatre and Sandstone Press are delighted to announce that as part of the Inverness Book festival which runs from Tue 06 – Sat 10 August 2013, the events taking place on the Thursday 08 August will have a distinctly Scottish theme. The final event of the evening sees the festival go gastronomic and the icing on the (tea) cake will be a light-hearted, affectionate look at Scotland’s fastest ever selling book, MAW BROON AND HER COOKBOOK. Publisher of the book, Ron Grosset will be joined by past and present Broons and Oor Wullie scriptwriters, David Donaldson and Morris Heggie in this mouth-watering event. Continuing on the Scottish theme and following the publication of of a new anthology of writings from the late Tom Weir, editor Hamish Brown, Garry Fraser and Tom’s widow, Mrs Rhona Weir will discuss the life and work of the great author and explorer in TOM WEIR: AN ANTHOLOGY. The other event of the day sees Rosalind K Marshall’s COLUMBA’S IONA: A NEW HISTORY being discussed by an esteemed panel of experts. MAW BROON AND HER COOKBOOK Since The Broons first appeared in The Sunday Post on March 8th 1936, they have become iconic Scottish characters. Paw - a small, ordinary working class man and Maw, his long suffering and larger than life wife, are parents to eight. As everyone knows, Maw is very much the homemaker and in charge of all household affairs. Hen and Joe, the two grown up sons and Maggie and Daphne the grown up daughters. The young ones are Horace, the Twins and the Bairn, a cut-down version of Maw, in nature if not in looks. Last but not least is Granpaw Broon, Paw’s father. When Maw Broon’s Cookbook was published in 2007 it became Scotland’s fastest ever selling book! The publisher behind the book, Ron Grosset, and The Broons & Oor Wullie scriptwriter of the time, David Donaldson, together with the present scriptwriter Morris Heggie, look back at how the book was created –the stooshie that ensued, and The Broons today. TOM WEIR: AN ANTHOLOGY Following the publication of a new anthology of writings, the first of the evening events will be a discussion about the life and work of the late Tom Weir Participants include, Mrs Rhona Weir, Tom Weir’s widow. Hamish Brown, editor of The Tom Weir anthology and author of Hamish’s Mountain Walk, Climbing the Corbetts, and The Oldest Post Office in the World. Completing the line up will be feature writer for the Scots Magazine, Garry Fraser. Garry’s work takes him all over the country and outside of the office his hobbies include music and hillwalking. COLUMBA’S IONA - a new history To celebrate the 1450th anniversary of Columba’s arrival on Iona, the Iona Cathedral Trust commissioned COLUMBA’S IONA: A New History, by Rosalind K Marshall, published in May 2013 by Sandstone Press. In what will be a fascinating event, the island’s history, and the book, will be discussed by a panel of experts chaired by Finlay Macdonald, former Moderator of the Church of Scotland and Chair of the Iona Cathedral Trust. Finlay will be joined by Jayne Scott, of Passage from India which encourages women’s self-reliance groups based on the Indian model, Raymond Young, an architect, and Alastair McIntosh, a Quaker, environmentalist and author of many books. Jayne, Raymond and Alastair are all members of the Iona Community. The island of Iona is close to the hearts of many people in Scotland and beyond and this discussion promises to be lively, entertaining and informative. ENDS Notes to Editors • The Inverness Book Festival will take place on 06 – 10 August 2013. • The Inverness Book Festival is an Eden Court event and in 2013 Sandstone Press a curating the programme. • Since the first Inverness Book Festival in 2004 there have been 192 events and 167 authors have appeared.  Highlights have included Jackie Kay, Ali Smith, Ian Rankin, Iain Banks, Christopher Brookmyre, Mairi Hedderwick, Andy Wightman, Richard Holloway, Michel Faber, Richard Jobson, Jeremy Strong, Joanna Blythman, Louis de Bernieres, Debi Gliori, AL Kennedy, Stuart McBride, James Kelman, Denise Mina, Lari Don, Ian Hamilton, Levi Roots, Andrew Greig, Kevin MacNeil, Grace Maxwell (with Edwyn Collins) and Alistair Urquhart • Eden Court is the largest multi-arts venue in Scotland. It re-opened in November 2007 following an extensive redevelopment programme, which saw the addition of two purpose built cinemas, a brand new flexible second theatre space and two dance and education studios. Website: http://www.eden-court.co.uk • Sandstone Press is a publisher of fiction and non-fiction books and ebooks. Based in Highland Scotland, the company is characterised by high editorial and design standards, internationalism, and a strong engagement with the contemporary world using modern methods. Sandstone Press books have won or been shortlisted for many literary prizes including the Man Booker, Commonwealth, Arthur C Clarke, Creative Scotland, Green Carnation, Saltire Society, and Boardman Tasker Awards. Sandstone Press is represented by Faber Factory Plus and Repforce Ireland, with ebooks distributed by Faber Factory Powered by Constellation. Website: http://www.sandstonepress.com Contact: Teresa Bendoris ( Marketing Manager Eden Court ) Phone: 01463 239 841 Email: tbendoris@eden-court.co.uk Website: http://www.eden-court.co.uk       2013-02-13T12:57:13+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/02/2013/media_release_scandinavian_crime_continues_at_sandstone_press/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/02/2013/media_release_scandinavian_crime_continues_at_sandstone_press/ Sandstone Press is pleased to announce the October 2013 publication in paperback and ebook of Closed for Winter, the next title in the highly successful William Wisting series by Norwegian crime writer Jørn Lier Horst. Like the previous title in the series (Dregs, Sandstone Press, 2011), this book will be translated by Anne Bruce. Robert Davidson, Managing Director of Sandstone Press comments:- ‘We are very pleased to be continuing the further publication in English of the immensely popular William Wisting series by Jørn Lier Horst. Our thanks go to Gyldendal, his original publishers in Norway for their enthusiasm and cooperation in bringing this great storyteller to the English speaking world. As well as bowing to considerable pressure from fans of Jørn Lier Horst’s Dregs to continue the series, we recognise that the credibility and realism of his writing, informed by his career as an active police officer, brings a refreshing authenticity to the series and, indeed, the whole nordic noir genre.’ Barry Forshaw, author of Nordic Noir and Death in a Cold Climate, the UK’s principal expert on crime fiction, has this to say about the author:- ‘Urban rather than natural settings are the stamping grounds of Jørn Lier Horst, whose Dregs (his first book to be published in English) is immensely impressive. The writer’s career as a police chief has supplied a key ingredient for the crime fiction form: credibility.’ For further information or images to accompany this story, please contact Eilidh Smith on 07901 914 596 or eilidh@sandstonpress.com NOTES Jørn Lier Horst’s publisher in Norway is Gyldendal. Closed for Winter will be translated by Anne Bruce. About the book: Ove Bakkerud, newly separated and extremely disillusioned, is looking forward to a final quiet weekend at his summer home before closing for winter but, when the tourists leave, less welcome visitors arrive. Bakkerud’s cottage is ransacked by burglars and he discovers the body of a man who has been beaten to death. Police Inspector William Wisting has witnessed grotesque murders before, but the desperation he evident in this latest murder is something new. Against his wishes his daughter Line decides to stay in one of the summer cottages at the mouth of the fjord. Wisting’s unease does not diminish when they discover several more corpses on the deserted archipelago. Meanwhile, dead birds are dropping from the sky. About the author: Jørn Lier Horst (born 27th February 1970, in Bamble, Telemark, Norway) has worked as a policeman in Larvik since 1995 and now holds the post of Head of Investigations. He debuted as a crime writer in 2004 with his novel Key Witness, based on a true murder story and has published five further novels featuring police officer William Wisting. Familiar with the environment and the methods he writes about, the action in his books have an unrivalled authenticity in describing both the routines undertaken by the Norwegian police and the dramas they face. The William Wisting novels have been extremely successful in Germany and the Netherlands in addition to the author’s native land. About the translator: Anne Bruce is a retired head teacher residing on the Isle of Arran, now a full time literary translator. In addition to translating Dregs (2011) by Jørn Lier Horst and I Should Have Lifted You Carefully Over (2011) by Wencke Muhleisen for Sandstone Press, she is translating the Hanne Wilhelmsen series by Anne Holt for Simon & Schuster, beginning with Blessed Are Those Who Thirst (2012) and Death of the Demon (2013). She has also translated the Nordic Prize-winning Days in the History of Silence by Merethe Lindstrøm (2013). TITLE: Closed for Winter AUTHOR: Jørn Lier Horst FORMAT: B paperback ISBN: 978-1-908737-49-6 RRP: £8.99 FORMAT: Ebook ISBN: 978-1-908737-50-2 RRP: £8.99 2013-02-08T08:58:46+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/02/2013/gavin_wallace_literature_director_at_the_scottish_arts_council_and_portfoli/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/02/2013/gavin_wallace_literature_director_at_the_scottish_arts_council_and_portfoli/ We learned today of the sudden death of Gavin Wallace, for many years Literature Director at the Scottish Arts Council, more recently in the equivalent post with Creative Scotland. Gavin was a stout supporter of literature in Scotland and of its practitioners: authors, editors, literary magazines, festivals, and publishers; not least, readers. He was at the heart of many fine initiatives and no one knew and understood the scene better. No doubt Creative Scotland will have more to say and we understand that an announcement has already been made by Iain Munro, Director. Gavin Wallace will be a great loss, and all of us at Sandstone Press extend our sympathies to his family, his many friends, and his colleagues at Creative Scotland. 2013-02-05T18:47:31+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/02/2013/two_great_new_titles_from_sandstone_press/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/02/2013/two_great_new_titles_from_sandstone_press/ Two new titles will appear in the shops on Thursday 21st February and we really do think you should keep your eye out for them. THE HOUSE OF TREMBLING LEAVES follows on the 2010 success of Julian Lees THE FAN TAN PLAYERS. A story of female friendship and mother love from 1930s Cambridge to Malaya through the Second World War, Japanese occupation and later the Communist Insurgence, this story transcends the troubles it describes with depth of feeling and great storytelling qualities Rosy Thornton, author of Ninepins, describes it as ‘compelling’. Cover design is by Heather MacPherson at Raspberry Creative Type. THE NEW NORTHWEST PASSAGE is journalist Cameron Dueck’s account of his journey through the, now occasionally opening, Northwest Passage, with Silent Sound and the crew he assembled for the purpose. It is a story of discovery, concern and unremitting interest. Accompanied by a brand new photo section (quite different from the American edition) it comes with a cover designed by Latte Goldstein at River Design in Edinburgh and a cover quote from Alistair McIntosh, author of Hell and High Water and much else. Cameron has made a film of the same name which is currently featuring in environment film festivals throughout the world. We have placed a trailer on its book page on this web site and on Facebook. Cameron Dueck is quite a presence on YouTube and we do suggest that you look him up there. Please do take time to explore this web site. Our Forthcoming page looks as far ahead as March 2014 (and growing). 2013-02-02T11:47:45+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/01/2013/entering_2013_with_contemporary_quality_reading/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/01/2013/entering_2013_with_contemporary_quality_reading/ Contemporary, quality reading for the millions of people whose lives revolve around ideas and feelings expressed through language, narrative, story, information, beautiful and relevant images, is at the centre of our being. At Sandstone Press we embrace ebooks and all new technology from our location in Highland Scotland, and our first publications of the year are in that form and ready for download now. Both are popular titles from our impressive back list, at last available as ebooks. CAIRNGORM JOHN A life in mountain rescue JOHN ALLEN THE LONG BRIDGE Out of the Gulags Urszula Muskus Our list for 2013 is now complete. Please visit our Forthcoming page to learn more. The last few covers will be on view soon. 2013-01-15T08:31:32+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/12/2012/our_christmas_number_one/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/12/2012/our_christmas_number_one/ From all of us at Sandstone Press to all of our readers, authors, designers, typesetter, printers, our colleagues at Faber Factory Plus and Faber Factory Powered by Constellation, our friends at Creative Scotland and Publishing Scotland, our fellow publishers in Scotland and beyond, we send best wishes for a Happy Christmas and a busy and prosperous 2013. Sandstone Press is very happy to announce that The Sister by Lynne Alexander is at Number One in Amazon’s Literary Fiction chart. We have had several such Number Ones in the course of a challenging but rewarding year and we thank everyone involved. 2012-12-25T10:50:29+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/12/2012/media_release_inverness_book_festival_2013_finale_announced/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/12/2012/media_release_inverness_book_festival_2013_finale_announced/ Media Release FRIDAY 07 DECEMBER Inverness Book Festival 2013 Finale Announced! Eden Court Theatre and Sandstone Press are delighted to announce the participants on the final evening of IBF 2013, Saturday 10th August; Roy Hattersley and Gary Mulgrew. ROY HATTERSLEY entered the House of Commons in 1964 winning Birmingham Sparkbrook for Labour and holding it in the following eight General Elections.  In 1998 he took a seat in the Lords, as the behest of his good friend Donald Dewar, who asked him to help “end ‘em”.  In government he held many offices of state including Senior Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs under Harold Wilson and Secretary of State for Prices and Consumer Protection under James Callaghan.  In opposition he served as Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer and Shadow Home Secretary.  In 1975 he was elected to the Privy Council and was Deputy Leader of the Labour Party between 1983 and 1982. As a journalist Roy has written columns for The Spectator, The Listener, Punch, The Daily Express, The Daily Mail and for 27 years wrote a weekly for The Guardian, and now writes regularly for The Times.  He is the author of 24 books, including three novels and several biographies including his most recent, David Lloyd George: The Great Outsider (Little Brown, 2010). At Eden Court in 2013, Roy Hattersley will be talking about his new book The Devonshires: The Story of a Family and A Nation (Chatto and Windus, 2013). Roy Hattersley speaks as he writes, with knowledge, insight and most of all, humour. GARY MULGREW was born in Glasgow in 1961. He joined NatWest in 1983 but his banking career came to an abrupt end in June 2002, when he was indicted by the US authorities - along with two colleagues known as the NatWest Three - for allegedly defrauding NatWest. After years of court battles he was eventually extradited to America. Two years of detention in Houston, Texas, were followed by two years in seven different prisons in the United States and England until his full release in 2010.  He now runs a number of successful businesses in the south of England. Hodder and Stoughton published Gary’s account of his extradition and prison experience, Gang of One, in January 2012 and it was published as a paperback in July of the same year. Gary Mulgrew will be interviewed by IAIN MACWHIRTER, the trenchant political columnist with The Herald whose articles are compulsory reading for everyone with an eye on Scotland’s fiery political scene and constitutional debate. ENDS Notes to Editors • The 10th Inverness Book Festival will take place on 07 – 10 August 2013. Since the first Inverness Book Festival in 2004 there have been 192 events and 167 authors have appeared.  Highlights have included Jackie Kay, Ali Smith, Ian Rankin, Iain Banks, Christopher Brookmyre, Mairi Hedderwick, Andy Wightman, Richard Holloway, Michel Faber, Richard Jobson, Jeremy Strong, Joanna Blythman, Louis de Bernieres, Debi Gliori, AL Kennedy, Stuart McBride, James Kelman, Denise Mina, Lari Don, Ian Hamilton, Levi Roots, Andrew Greig, Kevin MacNeil, Grace Maxwell (with Edwyn Collins) and Alistair Urquhart • Eden Court is the largest multi-arts venue in Scotland. It re-opened in November 2007 following an extensive redevelopment programme, which saw the addition of two purpose built cinemas, a brand new flexible second theatre space and two dance and education studios. Website: http://www.eden-court.co.uk • Sandstone Press is a publisher of fiction and non-fiction books and ebooks. Based in Highland Scotland, the company is characterised by high editorial and design standards, internationalism, and a strong engagement with the contemporary world using modern methods. Sandstone Press books have won or been shortlisted for many literary prizes including the Man Booker, Commonwealth, Arthur C Clarke, Creative Scotland, Green Carnation, Saltire Society, and Boardman Tasker Awards. Sandstone Press is represented by Faber Factory Plus and Repforce Ireland, with ebooks distributed by Faber Factory Powered by Constellation. Website: http://www.sandstonepress.com Contact: Teresa Bendoris ( Marketing Manager ) Phone: 01463 239 841 Email: tbendoris@eden-court.co.uk Website: http://www.eden-court.co.uk   2012-12-07T17:20:16+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/12/2012/backlist_ebooks/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/12/2012/backlist_ebooks/ As part of Sandstone’s ongoing programme of internet development we will be presenting some of our non-fiction backlist as ebooks. To begin, on 12th December, two of our most popular books, Cairngorm John: A life in mountain rescue, and The Long Bridge: Out of the Gulags, will be posted on all available platforms across the world. Cairngorm John is the autobiography of John Allen, for many years the leader of the Cairngorm Mountain Rescue Team. The Long Bridge is the posthumous memoir by Polish woman Urszula Muskus of her time travelling through the Gulag Archipelago, eventually to be reunited with her children in England. 2012-12-05T14:40:48+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/12/2012/how_to_keep_your_doctor_happy_is_amazon_kindles_daily_deal_todaymonday_3rd_/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/12/2012/how_to_keep_your_doctor_happy_is_amazon_kindles_daily_deal_todaymonday_3rd_/ We are delighted to announce another Sandstone Press book as Amazon Kindle’s Daily Deal at only 99p. Don’t miss this opportunity to buy John Larkin’s funny and wise book at such a bargain price. CLICK HERE: http://amzn.to/UBAXkM 2012-12-03T13:01:34+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/11/2012/our_amazon_kindle_promotions_continue/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/11/2012/our_amazon_kindle_promotions_continue/ As we pass the half way date in November, and our November sequence of Amazon Kindle Daily Deals comes to an end, let us take this opportunity to remind you that that six other Sandstone Press titles are included in Amazon’s ‘100 at less that £2.99’ promotion for November. Click here to visit the main page:  http://amzn.to/YvYHap Our six titles are:- FICTION The Sea Detective Mark Douglas-Home Click: http://amzn.to/QYVX1Z Dregs Jorn Lier Horst Click: http://amzn.to/RvY3bk The Jaguar T. Jefferson Parker Click: http://amzn.to/SBnfNt NON-FICTION Beyond the Last Dragon James McGonigal Click: http://amzn.to/TY18h1 In the Old Chief’s Country Chris McIvor Click: http://amzn.to/Vijqzw The Red Cockatoo Mitch Miller and Johnny Rodger Click: http://amzn.to/SDsMnD All of these books, as well as the Daily Deals, are doing remarkably well and we will hope that readers everywhere will continue to enjoy them. Four sequels are on the way, for The Sea Detective, The Jaguar, In The Old Chief’s Country, and another which must remain wrapped in mystery for a while longer. The word ‘mystery’ is a clue though! 2012-11-20T09:44:21+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/11/2012/amazon_kindle_daily_deal_monday_19th_november_ninepins/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/11/2012/amazon_kindle_daily_deal_monday_19th_november_ninepins/ We are very pleased to announce that NINEPINS by Rosy Thornton is Amazon Kindle’s Daily Deal for today, Monday 19th November 2012 at only £0.99. Most recently, Rosy Thornton’s brilliant novel of the Cambridgeshire Fens won the East Anglian Book Award for Fiction. A series of quotes is presented below. LINK to Amazon’s Daily Deal page: http://amzn.to/U6wl3Q Ninepins has been particularly well received by book bloggers. ‘Ninepins explores the idea of family, and the volatile and changing relationships between mothers and daughters, in a landscape that is beautiful but perilous.’ Cornflower ‘Distractingly readable.’ Book Oxygen’s Elsbeth Lindner ‘These are life sized characters with life sized stories that somehow become larger than life. They will stay with you long past the turning of the last page.’ Bookishly Attentive ‘Thornton creates her characters with warmth and a light touch.’ The Book Trunk ‘A really enjoyable book.’ Adele Geras ‘Mature and impressive, an accomplished novel.’ The Elephant in the Writing Room ‘Five stars for this story that brought up all the emotions I have experienced as a single parent,’ Rainy Days and Mondays ‘I thoroughly enjoyed the book and was disappointed when it finished’ Kat @ Best Books To Read ‘Piercing dialogue that drives to the heart.’ Michele Shannon ‘Very fine fiction indeed.’ Bookworm ‘With the tension of a thriller, NINEPINS explores the idea of family, and the volatile and changing relationships between mothers and daughters.’ Always With A Book ‘Ninepins is a thoughtful and realistic drama.’ Bookfan ‘Assured storytelling and a satisfying read.’ The Little Reader Library 2012-11-19T05:46:49+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/11/2012/amazon_kindle_daily_deal_sunday_18th_november_site_works/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/11/2012/amazon_kindle_daily_deal_sunday_18th_november_site_works/ We are very pleased to announce that SITE WORKS by Robert Davidson is Amazon Kindle’s Daily Deal for today, Sunday 18th November 2012 at only £0.99. This book was tremendously well received when it was first published. A series of quotes is presented below. Amazon’s Daily Deal page featuring Site Works: http://amzn.to/T9nYqi PRAISE FOR SITE WORKS ‘It deals with reality and the poetry is in the reality, as you let it whisper. I hope it will be widely read, by the elite in their sharp suits who make the decisions and by the men in their boiler-suits who toil in the frozen dawn.’ Katherine Stewart, author of A Croft in the Hills, Cattle on a Thousand Hills, and more ‘In this book, Davidson has given voice to a whole class of people who are treated simply as figures on a balance sheet by economists, or peripheral stereotypes by other novelists. Site Works deserves to be read by the very men to whose lives it gives such beautiful attention.’ Alan Bissett, author of Pack Men, Death of a Ladies’ Man, and more ‘I once said to the author that his book was ‘like The Ragged-Trousered Philanthropists without the hope of socialism, but actually it’s better than that!’ Ken MacLeod, author of Intrusion, The Restoration Game, and more ‘The pithy humour of the men is utterly believable and runs like a thread through the whole novel, so that it’s never depressing though it can make you feel pity and - now and again – horror.’ Moira Forsyth, author of Tell Me Where You Are, Waiting for Lindsay, and more ‘Davidson has come up with an incredibly vivid depiction of a temporary community of transient workers, which is almost too authentic for comfort.’ Alastair Mabbott in The Herald Impressive.’ Ross-shire Journal ‘This is a real life engineering project and these are the men and their machines who made it happen and Robert Davidson is their brilliant chronicler. In his words the technical and the mundane, the endless body-destroying hard graft, the awfulness of the Highland winter weather, all come together to create something fine.’ Charles Gorer in the Northern Times 2012-11-18T10:17:32+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/11/2012/rosy_thornton_wins_the_east_anglian_book_award_for_fiction_with_ninepins/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/11/2012/rosy_thornton_wins_the_east_anglian_book_award_for_fiction_with_ninepins/ We are delighted to announce that Rosy Thornton has won the East Anglian Book Award for Fiction with her novel of the Cambridgeshire Fens, Ninepins. Appreciation of Ninepins and of Rosy Thornton’s subtle evocations of place and character continues to grow. In this case the place is the Cambridgeshire Fens and the characters belong to mother and daughter, and another girl whose needs cannot be ignored. On our Facebook we have a picture of Rosy receiving her award from the hand of poet and novelist Sophie Hannah. 2012-11-16T12:05:03+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/11/2012/the_impac_dublin_award_and_success_on_the_kindle_daily_deal/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/11/2012/the_impac_dublin_award_and_success_on_the_kindle_daily_deal/ We are very happy and proud to announce that Incidents in the Life of Markus Paul, by David Adams Richards, has been nominated for the prestigious Impac Award. On their ‘Librarian’s Comments’ the Award organisers have this to say: ‘Incidents in the Life of Markus Paul is powerful and gripping, Richards’ thriller in the Miramichi speaks universal truths about human relationships and foibles.’ For this Award, ‘Books are nominated for the Award by public libraries in cities throughout the world, making the Award truly international and making the longlist unique in its coverage of international fiction.’ We are very proud that our colleagues the librarians agree with us about the quality of this great book. We are also proud that ‘Me and Mr Booker’ by Cory Taylor was yesterday (Monday 12th August 2012) allotted as Amazon Kindle’s Daily Deal. In the course of the day this truly great book soared to #2 on the overall list of paid for kindles. This is a tremendous feat by Cory Taylor, for which we congratulate her. ‘Me and Mr Booker has already won the Commonwealth Book Prize (Pacific Region). 2012-11-13T09:02:24+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/11/2012/amazon_kindle_daily_deal_monday_12th_november_me_and_mr_booker/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/11/2012/amazon_kindle_daily_deal_monday_12th_november_me_and_mr_booker/ We are very pleased to announce that Cory Taylor’s Commonwealth Book Prize (Pacific Region) winner, Me and Mr Booker is Amazon Kindle’s Daily Deal at £0.99 today. If you don’t already have it, this is a great opportunity, available only today. Please click here: http://amzn.to/ZtlPGU The brilliant and popular novelist,Isla Dewar has this to say about the title: ‘A beautifully paces and endlessly witty book about love and growing up . . . I loved this book.’ Other praise follows. Me and Mr Booker is sharply observed and blackly comic, but it is also a tender depiction of love, sex, power and one girl’s heartbreaking step into adulthood. Australian Bookseller + Publisher Taylor’s take on the oft-explored rite of passage from sweet, open-eyed childhood into the dark sexually charged realms of adolescent turmoil is distinctive, disturbing and refreshed by the limitless aptitude of middle-aged men for acting like spoilt teenagers. A vibrant, questioning and unpredictable read. West Australian 2012-11-12T09:53:54+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/11/2012/amazon_kindle_at_2.99_or_less_in_november/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/11/2012/amazon_kindle_at_2.99_or_less_in_november/ We are very happy to announce that six Sandstone Press titles are included in Amazon’s ‘100 at less that £2.99’ promotion for November 2012. Click here to visit the main page:  http://amzn.to/YvYHap Our six titles are:- FICTION The Sea Detective Mark Douglas-Home Click: http://amzn.to/QYVX1Z Dregs Jorn Lier Horst Click: http://amzn.to/RvY3bk The Jaguar T. Jefferson Parker Click: http://amzn.to/SBnfNt NON-FICTION Beyond the Last Dragon James McGonigal Click: http://amzn.to/TY18h1 In the Old Chief’s Country Chris McIvor Click: http://amzn.to/Vijqzw The Red Cockatoo Mitch Miller and Johnny Rodger Click: http://amzn.to/SDsMnD Ebooks become more significant to readers and buyers of books, it seems with every passing month. Sandstone Press entered early into the fray, pre-Kindle, pre-Sony Reader, pre-Kobo and the rest, by commissioning new literature and presenting as a designed PDF sold through Pay Pal. Since then we have built our way into the mainstream, publishing all of our fiction and narrative non-fiction in ebook on the day of hard copy release. Huge changes are occurring in publishing, much energised by the reading public’s speedy acceptance of ebooks at present levels of affordable technology. It can only get better and it is the intention of Sandstone Press to remain at the forefront, with ebooks as with our beautiful hard copy books, and always with readers of contemporary, quality fiction in mind. 2012-11-02T12:44:05+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/10/2012/new_titles_for_october_2012/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/10/2012/new_titles_for_october_2012/ As October arrives and the trees of Highland Scotland prepare to shed their leaves, we are proud to present our final two titles of the year. ‘Anywhere’s Better Than Here’ is the product of the fertile imagination of young Scottish novelist Zoe Venditozzi. Of this first novel and its author Robert J Lennon has this to say: ‘This darkly comic domestic drama comes in like a lamb, grows fangs, then drags you kicking and screaming to the finish. Zoe Venditozzi is sneaky as a thief, but her protagonist is lousy with pathos and charm. Sad, gripping, and true, Anywhere’s Better Than Here is an understated literary champ.’ Also appearing in October is ‘How To Keep Your Doctor Happy’, the latest humorous title from real doctor John Larkin. Learn the things that annoy doctors most and how (usually) to avoid them. Learn helpful medical knowhow - it’s easier to talk with your doctor if you have an idea what he’s rambling on about. Everyone who’s ever had to see a doctor needs this hilarious book. It’s an ideal stocking filler for Christmas too, so do keep it in mind. Meanwhile, our list for 2013 has reached August with all but two covers designed, a new benchmark of ambition and achievement for Sandstone Press and Highland Scotland. Before too long we hope to have the entire year’s titles on Forthcoming. Please do keep visiting. For the Trade: Information Sheets can be downloaded from the foot of each book page. Our Faber Factory Plus (sales) and MDL (distributer) details are on the Contact page. 2012-10-01T07:37:27+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/09/2012/the_testament_of_jessie_lamb_is_short_listed_for_the_portico_prize/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/09/2012/the_testament_of_jessie_lamb_is_short_listed_for_the_portico_prize/ We are delighted to announce that The Testament of Jessie Lamb by Jane Rogers, first published by Sandstone Press in 2011 and now published in a brand new paperback edition in partnership with Canongate Books, has been short listed for the Portico Prize. The Portico Prize aims to celebrate the strong regional identity of the North (of England) and to raise awareness of the diversity of its cultural, literary and historical heritage. It also promotes quality writing of all kinds. The full short list is reproduced below in alphabetical order by author’s name. 1. Joan Bakewell She’s Leaving Home Little Brown Book Group 2. Tom Benn Doll Princess, The Jonathan Cape 3. A S Byatt Ragnarok: the end of the gods Canongate Books 4. Sarah Hall Beautiful Indifference, The Faber and Faber 5. Ed Hogan Hunger Trace, The Simon and Schuster 6. Mark Illis The Last Word Salt Publishing 7. Jackie Kay Reality, Reality Picador 8. Val McDermid Retribution, The Little Brown Book Group 9. Jane Rogers Testament of Jessie Lamb, The Canongate Books/Sandstone Press 10. Joe Stretch Adult, The Johnathan Cape 11. Emma Jane Unsworth Hungry, the stars and Everything Hidden Gem Press 12. Paul Wilson The Visiting Angel Tindal Street Press 13. Robert Williams How the Trouble Started Faber and Faber Jane Rogers’ The Testament of Jessie Lamb has previously been short listed for the Man Booker Prize 2011 and, earlier this year, won the Arthur C Clarke Award. We send congratulations to Jane on this latest success and friendly greetings to our partners in this phase of the book’s life, Canongate Books in Edinburgh. 2012-09-20T13:11:32+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/09/2012/sandstone_press_publication_programme_september_2012_august_2013/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/09/2012/sandstone_press_publication_programme_september_2012_august_2013/ We are pleased to present the powerpoint display which Editorial Director Moira Forsyth spoke to when she addressed the Faber Factory Plus sales team on Friday 14th September 2012. More information on each book can be found on its book page. A selection of photographs from the event can be found on the Sandstone Press Facebook which can be accessed from the left side of the Home Page. For the Trade: Information Sheets can be downloaded from the foot of every book page. 2012-09-17T11:40:23+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/08/2012/press_release_from_eden_court_theatre_inverness/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/08/2012/press_release_from_eden_court_theatre_inverness/ Media Release 30/08/12 Inverness Book Festival raises the bar for 2013 The Inverness Book Festival will be raising the bar higher than ever when it celebrates its 10th anniversary in 2013. Eden Court is delighted to announce that their 2013 festival will be organised in association with Sandstone Press, the Highland based publishers, and directed by the company’s managing director, Robert Davidson. The festival will take place between 07 and 10 August 2013 and both Eden Court and Sandstone are delighted to be working together to deliver the most exciting programme to date. Eden Court Theatre Director Colin Marr said:- This is an exciting development for the Inverness Book Festival. I am delighted to be working with successful publisher Sandstone press and to have Robert Davidson as director for the 10th Inverness Book festival. Robert has a tremendous knowledge of the book world and that knowledge is extended through Sandstone’s partnership with Faber Factory Plus. This should allow us to deliver a really impressive line up to celebrate the Book Festival’s 10th anniversary. This also feels like a good moment to publicly record thanks to our previous Directors, Jason Rose and Brid McKibbon for helping us establish the Inverness Book Festival so successfully.  Book lovers not only in Inverness but also in the wider region have much to thank them for. Sandstone Press Managing Director Robert Davidson said:- In 2013 we will be bringing a calibre of author from all around the British Isles that will excite and inspire readers. We will bring readers into direct, personal contact with great authors talking about their books. We’ll also be endeavouring to give the authors a really tremendous festival experience, sending them away with a positive impression of both our reading public and our beautiful location. We are honoured to be associated with Eden Court Theatre in this great project. ENDS For further information, interview requests or to arrange picture opportunities, please contact Eden Court Marketing Department / marketing@eden-court.co.uk / 01463 239 841. For Sandstone Press please contact: Jelica Gavrilovic Jelica@sandstonepress.com Notes to Editors • The 10th Inverness Book Festival will take place on 07 – 10 August 2013. Since the first Inverness Book Festival in 2004 there have been 192 events and 167 authors have appeared.  Highlights have included Jackie Kay, Ali Smith, Ian Rankin, Iain Banks, Christopher Brookmyre, Mairi Hedderwick, Andy Wightman, Richard Holloway, Michel Faber, Richard Jobson, Jeremy Strong, Joanna Blythman, Louis de Bernieres, Debi Gliori, AL Kennedy, Stuart McBride, James Kelman, Denise Mina, Lari Don, Ian Hamilton, Levi Roots, Andrew Greig, Kevin MacNeil, Grace Maxwell (with Edwyn Collins) and Alistair Urquhart • Eden Court is the largest multi-arts venue in Scotland. It re-opened in November 2007 following an extensive redevelopment programme, which saw the addition of two purpose built cinemas, a brand new flexible second theatre space and two dance and education studios. Website: http://www.eden-court.co.uk • Sandstone Press is a publisher of fiction and non-fiction books and ebooks. Based in Highland Scotland, the company is characterised by high editorial and design standards, internationalism, and a strong engagement with the contemporary world using modern methods. Sandstone Press books have won or been shortlisted for many literary prizes including the Man Booker, Commonwealth, Arthur C Clarke, Creative Scotland, Green Carnation, Saltire Society, and Boardman Tasker Awards. Sandstone Press is represented by Faber Factory Plus and Repforce Ireland, with ebooks distributed by Faber Factory Powered by Constellation. Website: http://www.sandstonepress.com 2012-08-30T08:59:17+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/08/2012/jammy_dodger_leaves_the_warehouse/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/08/2012/jammy_dodger_leaves_the_warehouse/ We are delighted to say that Kevin Smith’s Jammy Dodger is now leaving the MDL warehouse, the first Sandstone book to be released by our new distributor. There will be launch events in Dublin on Tuesday 4th September and in Belfast on Thursday 6th September. If you are in Ireland do keep your eye open for further information. If you are not in Ireland Kevin’s launch is another good reason to visit; one of many. 2012-08-10T10:00:46+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/08/2012/change_of_distributor/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/08/2012/change_of_distributor/ Sandstone Press books are now distributed in Britain and Ireland (from 1st August 2012) by Macmillan Distribution. Contact details are as below. Our new arrangements allow for ease of service for our customers, whether independent book shops, wholesalers, or chains, through our selling agents at Faber Factory Plus. Sandstone Press enters this next phase of transition and development with great optimism and enthusiasm. MDL Brunel Road Houndmills Basingstoke Hants RG21 6XS Trade order telephone : 01256 302692 Fax number: 01256 812558 Email: orders@macmillan.co.uk We also take this opportunity to thank our friends at BookSource for nine years of sterling service. 2012-08-02T09:15:02+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/07/2012/inverness_book_festival/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/07/2012/inverness_book_festival/ The ninth Inverness Book Festival is now in full swing at Eden Court Theatre. Sandstone Press has set out a stall in the theatre’s wonderful foyer, where many of our books can be purchased. We wish the Festival every success and its many visitors every enjoyment. On first night it certainly looked like authors Maria Anderson and Peter May were packing them in, entertaining and informing. Among the many fine authors appearing in 2012 will be Shona MacLean and Karin Altenberg, Cameron McNeish and Tom Devine, Ron Ferguson and Swedish poet and singer (with Easy), Johan Holmlund. We have put a couple of pictures from the first night foyer on our Facebook page and hope you like them. On Friday night BBC outdoor journalist, Mark Stephen, will give this year’s Neil Gunn Lecture titled ‘Belonging to this place’, an event which Sandstone Press Ltd is proud to sponsor. We do hope you will go along to all of these events (but especially ours) to meet and talk to book people. Time so spent is never wasted. 2012-07-26T08:58:13+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/07/2012/me_and_mr_booker/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/07/2012/me_and_mr_booker/ We are highly delighted to announce that Cory Taylor’s Me and Mr Booker, winner of the Commonwealth Book Prize, Pacific Region, is leaving the warehouse for the shops today. This is one of the brightest and best, most entertaining and moving, novels to come out of the highly literate and productive land of Australia in many years. On this link you can hear it discussed on the First Tuesday Book Club: http://bit.ly/ivIoNX It will soon be available in Britain and Ireland in both paperback and ebook through all the usual retailers and platforms. You won’t want to miss reading this one! 2012-07-17T05:32:04+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/07/2012/two_huge_prizewinners_for_you_in_a_single_month/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/07/2012/two_huge_prizewinners_for_you_in_a_single_month/ It doesn’t happen often so allow us to blow our trumpet and point you in the direction of the two fantastic books we are publishing this month from two wonderfully gifted woman authors. Me and Mr Booker by Australian author Cory Taylor won the Commonwealth Book Prize, Pacific Region, only a month or so ago. As controversial as it is truthful and entertaining this amazing book will be talked about for years to come. Incidentally, we understand that Cory Taylor will be visiting the UK in 2013. We have that to look forward to. With our colleagues at Canongate we are proud to present our joint publication of a brand new edition of The Testament of Jessie Lamb by Jane Rogers. The most talked about book of 2012 was longlisted for the Man Booker Prize and, more recently, won the Arthur C Clarke Prize. If you are visiting the site for the first time, or if you arrive after receiving our latest newsletter: Welcome! Please do take time to look around. You can download the PDF of our latest catalogue (a great read in itself) from the Home Page. Sandstone Press books are sold to the Trade by Faber Factory Plus in UK and Repforce Ireland in Ireland. You will find their details on our Contact page. 2012-07-01T09:56:39+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/06/2012/getting_the_news_to_you/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/06/2012/getting_the_news_to_you/ One of the more frustrating aspects of publishing is getting the news about great new books to the people who we know would love them. We can’t rely on reviews, knowing only too well that the reviews editors in all the papers, national and local, struggle to find space. From the outset at Sandstone Press we have embraced the internet. This acceptance grows no less with increasing online sales of our hard and paperbacks and, of course, an increasing uptake of ebooks. The clamour for attention can be deafening and confusing. These days, therefore, we are turning more to Facebook and Twitter while also posting the reviews. We intend to be assiduous in getting our monthly bulletin out to our highly valued news group so, if this is of interest, do drop an email to info@sandstonepress.com and we will include you in (as Groucho used to put it). To book lovers everywhere let me say that Sandstone Press is for you. Readers are at the centre of our attention. The next bulletin will be going out in a few days. Please do sign up for it. Take a look also at our Facebook and follow us on Twitter. We have some big news on the way. 2012-06-25T15:51:39+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/06/2012/contemporary_quality_reading/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/06/2012/contemporary_quality_reading/ If you are visiting for the first time after receiving our latest New Bulletin we bid you welcome. We know some of our recipients pass them on although you might also have read it on our popular Facebook. Please do take the time to explore Sandstone’s web site. As you will see we are publishing a stream of contemporary quality fiction which is being increasingly noticed throughout the world. So far, in 2012, we have released Lynne Alexander’s novel about Alice James, The Sister, Rosy Thornton’s thrilling mother and daughter story Ninepins, Alison Fell’s latest, the element -inth in Greek, and T Jefferson Parker’s Charlie Hood crime novel, The Jaguar. In just three weeks we will be releasing Incidents in the Life of Markus Paul by David Adams Richards, a name which regularly comes up in the Nobel lists. This one also carries a major recognition from Man Booker short-lister Esi Edugyan. These brilliant novels marry with a non-fiction list which is already established as one of the most exciting in Britain, with decidedly outdoor, ecological and literary bents. Again, in just a few weeks we will be releasing Grizzly Bears and Razor Clams, Chris Townsend’s account of the Pacific Northwest Trail in north west America. From this month Sandstone Press books will be distributed in North America by Dufour Editions. Beside our new association with Faber & Faber through selling agents Faber Factory Plus, and our revitalised relationship with Repforce Ireland, we are extremely excited by present developments. There are more on the way so please do keep visiting. Don’t forget though, the centre of our attention is always our readers and bringing them the very best of contemporary quality reading. 2012-06-05T07:49:38+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/05/2012/me_and_mr_booker_by_cory_taylor_wins_commonwealth_book_prize_pacific_region/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/05/2012/me_and_mr_booker_by_cory_taylor_wins_commonwealth_book_prize_pacific_region/ Sandstone Press is delighted to announce that Me and Mr Booker by Cory Taylor has won the Commonwealth Book Prize 2012, Pacific Region. Book and author go forward to the overall final at the Hay Festival of Literature and the Arts on June 8th. Sandstone Press Managing Director Robert Davidson says: ‘Cory Taylor’s book is a triumph of empathy and an acute commentary on family and sexual relationships. Told entirely without judgement it lays bare the vulnerability of individuals across not only the sexes but also the generations. The voice of Martha is going to resonate wherever it is heard.’ Author Cory Taylor says: ‘To have this kind of recognition for your work is exciting for any writer, given that writing is so much about confidence in the worth of what you’re trying to do. And to be recognized out of a field of such quality and diversity is especially thrilling. It gives me a special sense of connection to new writers from all over the world. Somehow the imperative to tell stories seems less isolating and more like a communal undertaking.’ Author Isla Dewar has already given this comment: ‘A beautifully paced and endlessly witty book about love and about growing up. Not the inevitable moving into adulthood growing up, but the growing up we all have to do, and keep on doing all our lives. I loved this book.’ Chair of the Commonwealth Book Prize, Margaret Busby says, ‘We were wonderfully spoilt for choice among some strong regional contenders on the shortlist. Here are novels with memorable characters, unpredictable situations, a sense of humour, books that give insights into cultures and histories not our own, crafted by writers who care about language, and its ability to renew and enrich our view of the world.’ Sandstone Press will release both book and ebook to the British and Irish markets on July 19th 2012. The book is published in Australia by Text. TITLE: Me and Mr Booker AUTHOR: Cory Taylor FORMAT: B paperback ISBN: 9781905207985 RRP: £8.99 EBOOK: All platforms ISBNe: 9781905207992 RRPe: £7.99 Sandstone Press is represented in the UK by Faber Factory Plus and in Ireland by Repforce Ireland. 2012-05-22T08:13:55+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/05/2012/now_leaving_the_warehouse/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/05/2012/now_leaving_the_warehouse/ We hear from our friends at Faber Factory Plus that the new Sandstone catalogue is proving quite a hit with store managers. How pleased we are! With Latte Goldstein at River Design in Edinburgh we pulled out all the stops to make it not only informative but also beautiful and entertaining. You can download it from our Home Page below the menu. Leaving the warehouse today are Alison Fell’s intriguing the element -inth in Greek soon to receive a resounding thumbs up on Book Oxygen. With it go the new paperback edition of James McGonigal’s Beyond the Last Dragon, recipient of the Saltire Society’s Research Book of the Year prize, and the first copies of The Jaguar by T Jefferson Parker. This is Jeff’s 19th title and we intend to extend his already healthy readership to Britain and Ireland. Crime readers are going to love this book. You can read an interview conducted by Garrick Webster on Crime Fiction Lover and get the idea. Activities for the year’s earlier publications continue with many appreciative online reviews for Rosy Thornton’s Ninepins. The latest is from Adele Geras which we will bring to you just as soon as we can. Chros McIvor’s tour continues on Friday 18th with an event in his home town of Wick where Sandstone MD Robert Davidson will ensconce himself behind the counter to hand sell In the Old Chief’s Country and A Bend in the Nile. A real job at last! Please do keep visiting this web site where we will do all we can to keep you up to date with news and events. 2012-05-14T11:48:00+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/05/2012/jane_rogers_wins_the_arthur_c_clarke_award_for_science_fiction/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/05/2012/jane_rogers_wins_the_arthur_c_clarke_award_for_science_fiction/ Jane Rogers has received the prestigious Arthur C. Clarke Award with her novel, The Testament of Jessie Lamb at a ceremony held in London on Wednesday 2nd May 2012. 2012-05-03T08:54:53+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/05/2012/zoe_strachan_and_ever_fallen_in_love_short_listed_for_scottish_book_of_the_/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/05/2012/zoe_strachan_and_ever_fallen_in_love_short_listed_for_scottish_book_of_the_/ We are absolutely delighted to announce that Zoe Strachan’s Ever Fallen in Love has been short listed for the ‘Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust Book Awards 2012, in partnership with Creative Scotland’ http://bit.ly/IOvjDf . This is Scotland’s largest literary prize and Zoe’s listing now sits beside Jane Rogers’ for the Arthur C Clarke Award, and Cory Taylor’s for the Commonwealth Book Prize as further testimony to Sandstone’s successful entry into the world of contemporary fiction. Congratulations to all three authors. PS: Trade buyers should get in touch with our sales representatives at Faber Factory Plus and Repforce Ireland. See our Contact and Representation page on this web site. 2012-05-01T13:05:01+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/04/2012/cory_taylors_me_and_mr_booker_short_listed_for_the_commonwealth_book_prize/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/04/2012/cory_taylors_me_and_mr_booker_short_listed_for_the_commonwealth_book_prize/ We are delighted to announce that the forthcoming Me and Mr Booker by Cory Taylor, originally published in Australia by Text Publishing and due out from Sandstone Press in July, has been short listed for the Commonwealth Book Award as has just been announced by the Commonwealth Foundation. At Sandstone we have believed in Cory’s book, and the wonderful voice of Martha, since we set eyes on the first few words of Chapter One. Readers in Britain and Ireland are going to be just as gripped by her personality and her life as they are in Australia. 2012-04-27T12:56:00+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/04/2012/back_from_the_london_book_fair/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/04/2012/back_from_the_london_book_fair/ The Book Fair Team has returned from London after our busiest visit ever. Greetings go out to agents from Canada, the United States, France and Germany, not to forget our colleagues in London. Greetings also to printers from Scotland, England and Poland whom we met. The Team is now hard at work on likely new titles and new projects for 2013 and what might be our most internationally oriented year yet. Rosy Thornton’s novel of the Cambridgeshire Fens, Ninepins’, has been released with a launch in Heffer’s Bookshop, Cambridge http://bit.ly/fmykcA and the title has already attracted warm appreciations from bookbloggers Cornflower http://bit.ly/I8Ts6d and Book Oxygen http://bit.ly/I2YQdg High tributes are also being given to the novel’s beautiful cover. Rosy has contributed a short article on place in her work to the web site Strictly Writing which you can read here: http://bit.ly/HPeDKY ‘Ninepins’ is also available as an ebook. You can click on from her book page. Hamish Brown departs from his more usual mountain and travel topics with his highly original offering ‘The Oldest Post Office in the World’. Watch out for this one wherever you go and, if you are in or visiting Scotland, don’t let it fail to inspire your imagination and give you lots more interesting places to visit and odd things to see. 2012-04-20T07:47:25+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/04/2012/sandstone_press_at_the_london_book_fair/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/04/2012/sandstone_press_at_the_london_book_fair/ Managing Director Robert Davidson and Commissioning Editor Moira Forsyth will be at the London Book Fair on Monday and Tuesday of next week. On Monday Sandstone has a table at the Publishing Scotland stall (H350) and on Tuesday will be on walkabout. Both Directors schedules for both days are almost full but space can still be made for agents wishing to place high quality works of fiction and non-fiction for publication in 2013 and 2014. EMAIL: info@sandstonepress.com 2012-04-13T12:32:00+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/03/2012/the_testament_of_jessie_lamb_short-listed_the_arthur_c._clarke_award_more_r/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/03/2012/the_testament_of_jessie_lamb_short-listed_the_arthur_c._clarke_award_more_r/ Sandstone Press is delighted to learn that ‘The Testament of Jessie Lamb’, Jane Rogers’ brilliant and disturbing novel of the near future has been short-listed for the Arthur C. Clarke Award, one of six such titles: http://bit.ly/ceekMf . Managing Director Robert Davidson says:- ‘This latest recognition of Jane Rogers’ The Testament of Jessie Lamb underscores the breadth of the book’s interest and relevance. Jessie’s voice speaks with obvious authenticity and almost unbearable poignancy of the great concerns of our time. The world we bequeath to our children should be at the head of every political and social agenda. That the book’s many qualities have been recognised by both the Arthur C. Clarke and Man Booker judges does not surprise us. Our main wish though, is that it should be widely and appreciatively read. It is more than just a story.’ The Arthur C. Clarke Award is the most prestigious award for science fiction in Britain. The other five titles in the list are: Hull Zero Three (Greg Bear), The End Specialist (Drew Magarry), Embassy Town (China Mieville), Rule 34 (Charles Stross), and The Waters Rising (Sheri S. Tepper). Elsewhere on this site you can find David Kinloch’s review of Beyond the Last Dragon (James McGonigal) for Scottish Literary Review, Karen Meek’s warm review of Dregs (Jorn Lier Horst) for Euro Crime, and Lesley MacDowell’s glowing assessment of The Sister (Lynne Alexander) for the Sunday Herald. There is more to come. Hamish Brown’s The Oldest Post Office in the World and Rosy Thornton’s Ninepins are on their way to the warehouse now. Do take a look at our Forthcoming page for our programme for 2012. We believe you will love these books. 2012-03-26T10:24:41+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/03/2012/faber_factory_plus_2012_conference_presentation/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/03/2012/faber_factory_plus_2012_conference_presentation/ This is how Sandstone’s publishing programme for 2012 to August was presented to Faber Factory Plus at Bloomsbury House in March. Robert Davidson - Faber Factory Plus 2012 2012-03-13T09:20:20+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/02/2012/the_sea_detective_hits_the_shelves/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/02/2012/the_sea_detective_hits_the_shelves/ We are pleased to announce that the paperback edition of The Sea Detective by Mark Douglas-Home has left the warehouse and that the title is now officially published. You can buy your copy in most branches of Waterstones and online. It comes as both hard copy and ebook, the ebook being both epub at Waterstones and elsewhere, and as a Kindle from Amazon. Mark Douglas-Home and his oceanographer-detective Cal McGill are going places and we hope you will go with them. 2012-02-29T12:59:13+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/02/2012/2012_catalogue_in_preparation/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/02/2012/2012_catalogue_in_preparation/ This year’s catalogue will be our most ambitious to date, reflecting the publishing house’s rapid advance over the last year and our new association with the world’s most prestigious independent publisher through its new selling arm, Faber Factory Plus. The new catalogue will be on the Home Page (where the present catalogue is now) in two or three weeks and going out in numbers shortly afterwards. Please keep visiting this web site. Incidentally, if you take a look through our book pages you should see some improvements in the making. These include videos viewed directly on the page, rather than a click through to our YouTube channel, and reference to the books’ Amazon reviews. All this is designed to enhance your enjoyment in visiting this space and, most importantly, from the books themselves. Sandstone Press is looking for a temporary replacement for our Marketing and Publicity Person, Eilidh Smith, who is presently on maternity leave, and an advert will appear shortly on Northings, the Hi-Arts web site. Applications should be sent by email to info@sandstonepress.com for the attention of Robert Davidson, Managing Director. 2012-02-18T13:24:01+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/02/2012/the_presses_are_rolling_the_festivals_coming_to_call/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/02/2012/the_presses_are_rolling_the_festivals_coming_to_call/ With barely time to write these days, we nonetheless know we have to stay in touch with our regular visitors. Let’s see . . . The Sea Detective paperback is increasing its pre-orders more or less by the day and is now far and away, comfortably, our record holder in this respect. Our Norwegian crime writer, Jorn Lier Horst, and Dregs is also going really well although mostly in internet sales. Come on, all you retailers! This one will fly off your shelves. ‘The Sister’ by Lynne Alexander (cover design by Rebecca Pickard at Zebedee) and Chris McIvor’s second volume of African memoirs, ‘In the Old Chief’s Country’ (cover by Latte Goldstein of River Design), are printing now and we look forward to great reviews and increasing interest. Take a look at the latest cover designs. On my day of writing, we received Guilherme Condeixa’s artwork for ‘The Jaguar’ by T Jefferson Parker. This provides this already distinguished and successful author with a brand new look. You can find it on his book page now. Latte Goldstein has also produced fabulous covers for Rosy Thornton’s Ninepins and Alison Fell’s ‘the element -inth in Greek’. We have the first proofs from Latte for ‘Hartsend’ by Janice Brown. Best known as a childrens’ author Janice has produced a skelping good book for adults. Its cover will match this quality. Keep visiting, it won’t be long before it is on view. Gravemaker + Scott in Paris are working on Hamish Brown’s ‘Climbing the Corbetts’ and this will be a match for his earlier books with us (and Martin Moran’s) except for the forthcoming ‘The Oldest Post Office in the World’ which has been designed by Heather MacPherson at Raspberryhmac. In addition to all this we will have at least two authors at this year’s Edinburgh International Book Festival, Jane Rogers and Zoe Strachan, and also have a strong presence at the Inverness and Nairn Book Festivals. More to follow on all this. Meantime, signing off breathlessly. 2012-02-02T15:05:58+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/01/2012/a_great_rolling_up_of_the_sleeves/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/01/2012/a_great_rolling_up_of_the_sleeves/ Work has well and truly started for 2012 here at Sandstone Press. Soon we will be going to print not only with the highly subscribed paperback of Mark Douglas-Home’s The Sea Detective but also with Chris McIvor’s In the Old Chief’s Country and Lynne Alexander’s The Sister. For the present though, our designers, typesetters and editors are all hard at work. Print estimators are sharpening their pencils. Please do keep visiting this web site for news of further developments. 2012-01-12T12:37:40+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/01/2012/happy_new_year_to_all_our_visitors/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/01/2012/happy_new_year_to_all_our_visitors/ Sandstone Press wishes all of our web site visitors across the world, authors, designers, print colleagues, colleagues at Creative Scotland and Publishing Scotland, our new colleagues at Faber and Faber, publishing partners at the Gaelic Books Council and The Drouth, our distributors at BookSource and, most of all, our readers, all the very best for the New Year. 2011 took the publishing company to a new level with competition successes for Jane Rogers, James McGonigal and Zoe Strachan. With Faber Factory Plus taking our books into shops and head offices across Great Britain, Repforce doing the same in Ireland, and Faber Factory Powered by Constellation handling our ebook accounts, in 2012 we anticipate a wider outreach than ever before. There will be a more formal announcement soon from Faber and Faber about our new representation, followed by another from ourselves. Big changes have been in preparation for some months but our aim remains what it always was: to take the best of contemporary, quality reading to the widest possible readership from our base in Highland Scotland. Please continue the journey with us. 2012-01-02T12:29:17+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/12/2011/a_christmas/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/12/2011/a_christmas/ Since our Marketing and Publicity Executive, Eilidh Smith, went on maternity leave we have received many friendly inquiries after her from colleagues in publishing, the Trade, and the press; not to mention our authors and designers. With Eilidh’s express permission, we are delighted to inform you that Molly Smith entered the world on Tuesday 20th December at an impressive 4.16kg (9lbs 2.5ozs). Eilidh, Molly and Dad Kenny are well and successfully adjusting. All of us at Sandstone Press send our congratulations and best wishes. 2011-12-21T13:38:42+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/12/2011/beyond_the_last_dragon_wins_the_saltire_research_book_of_the_year_2011/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/12/2011/beyond_the_last_dragon_wins_the_saltire_research_book_of_the_year_2011/ Sandstone Press is delighted to announce that James McGonigal’s magnificent biography of Edwin Morgan, Beyond the Last Dragon, has been made Saltire Society Research Book of the Year for 2011. In addition to reiterating his high regard for author and title Sandstone Press Managing Director, Robert Davidson, said:- ‘It is a particular pleasure to me that, after many long and short listings in many competitions, Sandstone’s first winning title was James McGonigal’s magnificent biography of Edwin Morgan, and that it came from the Saltire Society Awards. The Saltire Society began its prize-giving in the early eighties, a time of great cultural questioning in Scotland. That the questions have all been answered so positively, so confidently, and with such a positive projection into the future has much to do with them, and Edwin Morgan, and the rejuvenation they led.’ 2011-12-02T18:16:35+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/11/2011/books_of_the_year_from_the_herald/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/11/2011/books_of_the_year_from_the_herald/ We were delighted to read these endorsements of Sandstone Press books in The Herald of 28th November. Beyond the Last Dragon has also been short-listed for the Saltire Society Scottish Research Book of the Year, which will be announced on Thursday 1st December. We are honoured to receive these recognitions. SITE WORKS I was also spellbound by Site Works by Robert Davidson, the most impressive Scottish novel about working life since James Kelman’s The Busconductor Hines. Alan Bissett, novelist BEYOND THE LAST DRAGON Definitely my book of the year – my favourite story – was James McGonigal’s Beyond The Last Dragon, his honest, lucid, measured and deeply moving biography of Edwin Morgan: one poet’s (long) life in a changing world and city. Liz Lochhead, Scotland’s Makar With its judicious balance of tact and affection, James McGonigal’s Beyond The Last Dragon – the first biography of the late Edwin Morgan, our greatest poet since Burns – is a labour of love, and a compelling account of the creative and intellectual life of a writer who achieved a whole literature single-handed. Gavin Wallace, Portfolio Manager, Literature, Publishing and Language, Creative Scotland 2011-11-28T15:47:39+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/11/2011/beyond_the_last_dragon_short-listed_for_the_saltire_research_book_of_the_ye/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/11/2011/beyond_the_last_dragon_short-listed_for_the_saltire_research_book_of_the_ye/ We are delighted to announce that James McGonigal’s ‘Beyond The Last Dragon: A life of Edwin Morgan’ has been short-listed for the Saltire Society Scottish Research Book of the Year 2011. James McGonigal’s magnificent biography of Scotland’s first National Makar has been gaining praise and winning plaudits wherever it has been reviewed. Private praise has been, if anything, even more fulsome. At Sandstone Press we are extremely proud of this book and of another short-listing for the famous Saltires. Congratulations to Jim. Both he and his editor, Moira Forsyth, will be at the Awards Ceremony on December 1st. We wish them, and all other short-listed authors and publishers, every good fortune. Below is a list of appreciations we have gathered together. Impressive? I think so! ‘My book of the year – my favourite story – was James McGonigal’s Beyond the Last Dragon, his honest, lucid, measured and deeply moving biography of Edwin Morgan.’ Liz Lochhead, The Herald ‘Enjoyably unlumpy.’ Tom Leonard ‘As a poet in his own right, McGonigal has an eye for luminous detail, and as a critic is able to relate biography to the poetry in ways that never fail to enlighten.’ David Kinloch, Scottish Literary Review ‘Thorough, readable and knowledgeable on the publishing history of Edwin Morgan’s work … the biography is also psychologically convincing, and is the result of a deep and long personal engagement with the man and his poetry. McGonigal negotiates Morgan’s relationships with sensitivity, particularly with regards to his semi-hidden and then blossoming but illegal sexuality. He is intimate but not prurient.’ Michael Gardiner, Scottish Review of Books ‘Thanks to James McGonigal’s excellent biography, we are now able to put all Morgan’s diverse public creativity into the context of a reasonably comprehensible private life. … this thoughtful, generous and illuminating biography.’ D.M. Black, The Dark Horse ‘McGonigal’s love for his subject is on display throughout the biography, sometimes touchingly.’ Patrick Crotty, Times Literary Supplement ‘The dragon of this book’s title is death. The author begins his outstanding account with an analysis of several dreams that troubled the poet as he neared that deferred demise. This is no mere device. It gets the book off to a beguilingly symbolic start and is expertly followed up.’ Donny O’Rourke, Scottish Left Review   2011-11-21T19:34:35+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/11/2011/zoe_strachan_nominated_for_the_london_book_awards/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/11/2011/zoe_strachan_nominated_for_the_london_book_awards/ We are delighted to announce that Zoe Strachan with Ever Fallen in Love has been nominated for the London Book Awards. Recognition for this fine author and her amazing novel continues to grow. An interview conducted by the London Festival Fringe can be read in the Sandstone blogspot. Our Facebook Page is an increasingly important part of our outreach. We have received this letter from Lorraine Caputo in Latin America (sorry not to be more precise, but read on). Thanks, Lorraine, and safe journeys. 18 Bookshops is on the way! Esteemed Sandstone Press: What a surprise to be your 3,000th “like”—& even more so, to be offered a free book! There are quite a few interesting titles in your collection—ones that pique my curiosity. (& it is so incredible that you also publish in Gaelic!) But—I am on a long-term journey in Latin America, writing travel pieces & poetry of the peoples & places I get to know. I have no fixed base. You sending me a book, then, would be quite difficult—& me receiving one likewise. I request, then, that the book be gifted to a public library there in the Isles. Thank you again. Safe Journeys, Lorraine Caputo (... of the MacDonaldson clan—a few generations back ...)   2011-11-17T08:20:39+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/11/2011/zoe_strachan_and_ever_fallen_in_love_short_listed_for_the_green_carnation_p/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/11/2011/zoe_strachan_and_ever_fallen_in_love_short_listed_for_the_green_carnation_p/ It’s turning out quite a year for prize listings for Highlands based publisher, Sandstone Press.  This afternoon, Zoë Strachan’s “Ever Fallen in Love” has been announced as one of the six short listed titles for The Green Carnation Prize. Earlier this year, another of their titles “The Testament of Jessie Lamb” by Jane Rogers was long listed for The Man Booker Prize. Robert Davidson, Managing Director, Sandstone Press commented:- “We were pleased enough to see Zoë’s book in the long list for the Green Carnation and it is wonderful news that she has made the short list. “Ever Fallen in Love” is a superb novel of great skill and fine story-telling, but even knowing how great a book it is ourselves we can’t help but be surprised, delighted and over the moon at the news it has made this next step – especially when you see the strength and quality of work submitted for this prize.” Zoë Strachan, just back in Glasgow, Scotland following her stint as writer in residence at the University of Iowa and involvement in the International Festival of Authors in Toronto was delighted at the news, amazed to have made the short list and beside herself with excitement. Chair of the judges for 2011,  Simon Savidge commented “Firstly I want to say what an incredible longlist of books we had this year, it certainly made for some interesting and passionate discussion over the last twenty-four hours. I think we as a panel have chosen six incredible reads and a shortlist where each one of these titles could easily win… which of course makes the job of picking one final winner all the more difficult.” For further details contact Eilidh Smith on 07901 914 596 Notes to Editors Sandstone Press is a publisher of non-fiction and fiction books. Based in Highland Scotland, the company is characterized by high editorial and design standards, internationalism and a strong engagement with the contemporary world using modern methods. For more information visit http://www.sandstonepress.com The Green Carnation Prize is Britain’s most prestigious literary prize for modern gay writing. The prize aims to promote the work of all LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender) writers, thereby engaging the wider LGBT community, as well as all readers outside of it, in their constant search for great modern writing. Short Listed novels (announced Nov , 2011) The Strange Case of the Composer and his Judge – Patricia Duncker (Bloomsbury) The Proof of Love – Catherine Hall (Portobello) Red Dust Road – Jackie Kay (Picador) Remembrance of Things I Forgot – Bob Smith (Terrace Books) Ever Fallen in Love – Zoe Strachan (Sandstone Press) The Empty Family – Colm Toibin (Penguin Books) Long Listed novels (announced Sept 28, 2011) By Nightfall – Michael Cunningham (Fourth Estate) The Strange Case of the Composer and his Judge – Patricia Duncker (Bloomsbury) The Proof of Love – Catherine Hall (Portobello) Red Dust Road – Jackie Kay (Picador) The Retribution – Val McDermid (Little Brown) Purge – Sofi Oksanen (Atlantic Books) There But for The… – Ali Smith (Hamish Hamilton) Remembrance of Things I Forgot – Bob Smith (Terrace Books) Ever Fallen in Love – Zoe Strachan (Sandstone Press) The Empty Family – Colm Toibin (Penguin Books) Role Models – John Waters (Beautiful Books) Before I Go To Sleep – S.J Watson (Doubleday) Why Be Happy When You Can Be Normal? – Jeanette Winterson (Jonathan Cape) 2011-11-03T12:45:47+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/10/2011/the_publishing_year/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/10/2011/the_publishing_year/ Very shortly Sandstone Press will be publishing Frederick Lightfoot’s remarkable novel, My Name is E. Beautifully written, sensitive to its keynote subject, deafness, the pages turn easily indeed relentlessly as the fate of the three girls (becoming first young and then middle aged women) unfolds. This is another fine book and an equally fine author we are proud to bring into our readers’ worlds. It has been a remarkable year and while the rest of the publishing world is revelling at the Frankfurt Book Fair the Sandstone Board has remained in Highland Scotland to reflect. Jane Rogers’s Man Booker long-listing with The Testament of Jessie Lamb is not only a highlight of the year but also a milestone for the company, enabling us to strengthen our list for next year and re-examine our methods. We have also, only yesterday (Wednesday 12th October) learned that Creative Scotland will again support the company financially in the year of 2012, and this year more generously than ever. We celebrate this act of faith and renew our commitment to literature and culture generally, to our location of Highland Scotland from which we reach out to the world and, most of all, to our growing band of readers. Please believe that you are at the centre of our thoughts at all times. 2011 is a year of transition for Sandstone Press with a strengthening of our list, particularly in fiction, an increased investment in marketing and publicity especially through Eilidh Smith, and more books published than in any previous year. In 2012 we anticipate another transition, discrete from this year’s, a further strengthening of the catalogue and a still more determined outreach to the Trade. Look forward to a number of announcements in the near future, and please do keep visiting this web site. 2011-10-13T18:42:25+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/10/2011/18_bookshops_launch_and_competition/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/10/2011/18_bookshops_launch_and_competition/ This Wednesday we’ll be launching Anne Scott’s beautiful ‘18 Bookshops’ in Glasgow (October 5, 5.30 pm at Waterstone’s Sauchiehall Street branch if you can come along). Anne’s book is a beautifully written and presented journey of her life with books, the wondrous bookshops where she has come into contact with these miniature works of art (with their big ideas) and the lasting memories and life experiences her relationship with books has brought her. Given the digital age is upon us and more and more of us do our purchasing on-line, never mind the great leap many writers are taking to publish in a solely digital format, it has got us all at Sandstone Towers thinking about what makes bookshops so special. With sadness we’ve seen Ottakers and Borders go, Waterstone’s remains and, in the main, those special independent shops survive. Do they symbolise great beacons of creativity or provide a 21st century hunt - the forest in which you must find your quarry . . .  or even a much preferable way to pass an afternoon than following your other half around town in search of exactly the right type of shoes? Or are they gradually becoming museum items, monuments of last century? To celebrate the launch of her book, we’re running a competition. We want to hear from you about what bookshops mean to you – maximum word count 500 but a sentence will do if brevity is your thing. Competition will close on Monday, October 10, 5 pm and the winner (who will receive a lovely signed copy of “18 Bookshops”) will be announced on Monday, October 17.  2011-10-03T06:56:20+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/09/2011/zoe_strachan_and_ever_fallen_in_love_longlisted_for_the_green_carnation_pri/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/09/2011/zoe_strachan_and_ever_fallen_in_love_longlisted_for_the_green_carnation_pri/ We are delighted to announce that Zoe Strachan and her brilliant novel, ‘Ever Fallen in Love’, have been longlisted for the second Green Carnation Prize, celebrating LGBT writing. Sandstone Press is intensely proud of Zoe Strachan’s achievement coming, as it does, on the heels of Jane Rogers’ longlisting for the Man Booker Prize 2011. Below we reproduce the organisers’ press release dated today, 28th September 2011. As the reader will see, she is in exceptionally good company. THE GREEN CARNATION PRIZE LONGLIST 2011 After an intense nine months of reading, the judges spent almost two days debating and discussing all the submissions for the Green Carnation Prize’s second year. This year’s longlist includes a diverse mix of genres, household names, debut authors and tales of love to tales of psychopaths and all sorts in between. Without further ado we can reveal that the Green Carnation Longlist 2011 is made up of…  By Nightfall – Michael Cunningham (Fourth Estate)  The Strange Case of the Composer and his Judge – Patricia Duncker (Bloomsbury)  The Proof of Love – Catherine Hall (Portobello)  Red Dust Road – Jackie Kay (Picador)  The Retribution – Val McDermid (Little Brown)  Purge – Sofi Oksanen (Atlantic Books)  There But for The… - Ali Smith (Hamish Hamilton)  Remembrance of Things I Forgot – Bob Smith (Terrace Books)  Ever Fallen in Love – Zoe Strachan (Sandstone Press)  The Empty Family – Colm Toibin (Penguin Books)  Role Models – John Waters (Beautiful Books)  Before I Go To Sleep – S.J Watson (Doubleday)  Why Be Happy When You Can Be Normal? – Jeanette Winterson (Jonathan Cape) Chair of the judges, blogger, journalist and literary salon host Simon Savidge said “with so many submissions and so many wonderful books we didn’t feel we could have a shortlist of just ten. In fact, to get it down to a baker’s dozen took hours of discussion, thankfully there were no tears or bloodshed. I think the long list this year is very exciting and very diverse. We have three memoirs; a collection of short stories… there’s crime, literary and science fiction. We also have books by well-known names along with some stunning debuts and some authors that people might not have heard of before - in fact that also applies to some of the publishers. What all of these books have in common is that they are wonderful, wonderful reads and a selection of books that anyone could pick up and get lost in. While I am looking forward to returning to all of them, cutting them down to a shortlist of five is going to be quite a mission for us all.” The award keeps a judge, or two, from previous years as a form of continuity and this year’s chair’s thoughts were echoed by fellow judges of both years. Blogger Nick Campbell suggested “anyone who likes to be led astray and told marvellous secrets by their reading matter will find themselves well satisfied with these.” While Paul Magrs, who chaired the award in its inaugural year and came back for 2011, said it was “fascinating again to see who’s come out on top.” 2011-09-28T12:48:55+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/09/2011/reviews_keep_coming_in/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/09/2011/reviews_keep_coming_in/ The internet brings new dimensions to the practicalities of book reviews. For one thing it challenges the dominance of printed media. For another it defies the wave of immediacy which sweeps past books and leaves them bobbing behind. Book bloggers quite frequently turn to books that take their attention and which they feel are worth bringing to ours. Don’t you also love the names they give themselves? This week Rooftrouser, in his space ‘Whinging for Carthage’, has enjoyed Bobbie Darbyshire’s Love, Revenge & Buttered Scones so much he has given the pot another stir. Crime Fiction Lover, who gave such a warm review to Jorn Lier Horst’s Dregs has also discovered Yin Yang Tattoo by Ron McMillan, the first Asia Noir thriller from this exciting writer. Sandstone books are receiving increasing attention in the big broadsheets. The Sunday Times is the latest, where Lucy Scholes has given a very positive account of Zoe Strachan’s Ever Fallen In Love. You can find all three on the Sandstone Blogspot. The grass is not growing under our feet here at Sandstone Towers and soon The Red Cockatoo, Mitch Miller and Johnny Rodger’s study of James Kelman will be leaving the ware house, as will Anne Scott’s 18 Bookshops which, we predict, will be this year’s Christmas gift ‘must have’. 2011-09-12T07:50:17+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/09/2011/the_man_booker_prize_2011/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/09/2011/the_man_booker_prize_2011/ Sandstone Press sends congratulations to the short listed six in Man Booker 2011 and their publishers, and thanks to the Man Booker Foundation, their agency Colman Getty and the sponsors who do so much for English-language literature. We send especially fraternal greetings to the two first time novelists who have gone through and, of course, to our friends at Canongate in Edinburgh. Especially warm regards go to our author Jane Rogers, with whom we have travelled so far and will continue to travel. For a fuller reaction to the short list please go to our press announcement in the Blogspot of this web site 2011-09-06T11:18:40+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/08/2011/more_great_books_on_the_way/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/08/2011/more_great_books_on_the_way/ Life at Sandstone Towers has been a blur since Jane Rogers and The Testament of Jessie Lamb were longlisted for the Man Booker Prize 2011. Our remaining stock disappeared from the warehouse in two days. In what seemed like no time we redesigned the cover, produced the ebook and cracked out another print run. Unbelievably, it is almost gone and we have another run printing now. Our territories have been increased for the title to UK, Ireland (no change there), Europe and the British Commonwealth apart from Canada where Harper Collins have taken the rights. We have entered into cordial relations with HC, whom I welcome to this web site should they visit at sight of their name, and wish them well. The ebook is now available throughout these territories and hard copy will follow. We send a very big thank you indeed to all who have been in touch and so supportive. Let me say to all readers what I have said to them: It’s a milestone, not a terminus. It hasn’t stopped, y’know. We are pricing for another reprint of Bobbie Darbyshire’s hilarious Love, Revenge & Buttered Scones, and the next reprint of our biggest seller, Cairngorm John, will not be far behind. At the Edinburgh International Book Festival Fringe we launched Jorn Lier Horst’s gripping Dregs at Waterstones Princes Street, the first of the William Wisting titles to be published in English, following Wencke Muhleisen’s I Should Have Lifted You Carefully Over - our first translations from the Norwegian. Both Jorn and his translator, Anne Bruce, were present, as were our co-hosts from the Norwegian Consulate, Mona Rohne and David Windmill. There will be more. Keep visiting and we will keep you posted. Leaving the warehouse tomorrow (Thursday 25th August) in great numbers will be Martin Moran’s The Munros in Winter, a complete recreation (and improvement) on the original production using 21st century methods. Following soon with be The Red Cockatoo: James Kelman and the art of comittment by Mitch Miller and Johnny Rodger, which we are publishing with The Drouth Magazine. Also in the warehouse is My Name is E by Frederick Lightfoot, not just a memorable name for an author but also an unforgettable book, as you will find out when it appears in October. Our Gaelic series continues to be, and will always be, important to us, and Alison Lang’s San Duthaich Uir will also be published in October. Exciting times. At proof stage we are looking at the most beautiful book you will ever see, 18 Bookshops by Anne Scott, and I predict that you will want to both give and receive it this Christmas. Given all this activity we are delaying our announcement on ebooks, but it’s on the way. Among all of this activity we have been approached by publishers and agents from all over the world with exciting new authors and titles. Keep visiting this web site, please. Soon we will be announcing our publishing programme for the first half of 2012 and it will be more exciting, more compulsive, more imperative, than ever before. 2011-08-24T12:38:25+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/08/2011/the_man_booker_prize_2011_and_on/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/08/2011/the_man_booker_prize_2011_and_on/ Jane Rogers’ appearance in the longlist for this year’s Man Booker Prize has sprung a whirlwind of activity since it was announced last Tuesday afternoon. Our remaining stock evaporated from the warehouse and we have, since, redesigned the cover front, to include a quote from Man Booker short-listee Michele Roberts, and the back to include quotes from Katy Guest’s appreciative review in the Independent on Sunday and Lucy Dallas’s in the Times Literary Supplement. We have made other production adjustments to turn the new supply round as quickly as possible. The book is now also available as a kindle and convetional ebook. In addition, as well as the attention which Jane Rogers and her brilliant creation, Jessie Lamb, have been correctly receiving, Sandstone Press has received a sudden and welcome increase in interest and attention. The Independent chose to lead its longlist story with us. Most other papers noticed us warmly. Thank you all for this, and thanks to the many, many people who have sent their good wishes. The Testament of Jessie Lamb is a great book, please do read it. As well as being a genuine page-turner it is a great provoker-of-thought, and we have other great books, not only novels but also non-fiction. Take a look! Explore this web site. There is plenty to enjoy.   2011-08-01T14:15:17+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/07/2011/jane_rogers_makes_the_man_booker_long_list/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/07/2011/jane_rogers_makes_the_man_booker_long_list/ We are delighted to announce that Jane Rogers novel ‘The Testament of Jessie Lamb’ has been long listed for the Man Booker Prize 2011. Sandstone Press congratulates Jane Rogers on this achievement and looks on this recognition as an important milestone in the development of Sandstone Press. 2011-07-26T15:08:18+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/07/2011/the_tragedies_in_oslo_and_on_utoeya_island_norway/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/07/2011/the_tragedies_in_oslo_and_on_utoeya_island_norway/ The dreadful loss of life in Oslo and on Utoeya Island has commanded the attention of the world and come at a time when this publishing company, Sandstone Press, is publishing its first quality translations by Norwegian authors. At this time of writing it seems that these atrocities have been carried out by one person and are politically motivated. Words seem inadequate but we offer our sympathies to all of the injured and bereaved, and to the emergency services who will now be working intensely to mitigate the effects of this disaster. Speaking for the Norwegian people, Prime Minister Jens Stentenberg is reported to have said: ‘We will retaliate with more democracy, transparency and openness.’ Sandstone Press admires PM Stentenberg for this statement. We stand beside our authors Wencke Muhleisen and Jorn Lier Horst, and their translator Anne Bruce, at this time of loss and grief. At a time when peace and tolerance are under attack, it seems, from religious and ideological extremists everywhere we reiterate our solidarity with our colleagues at NORLA and the Norwegian Consulate in Edinburgh, and in particular with our partner publishers, Gyldendal, in Oslo. 2011-07-23T14:55:35+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/07/2011/for_the_trade_mostly/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/07/2011/for_the_trade_mostly/ Sandstone Press has contracted with Scottish Review of Books for a half page full colour advert in each of the next four copies; that is, over the next year. These adverts will be designed by Heather MacPherson of Raspberryhmac who designed our current catalogue (downloadable from the Home Page). The adverts will have a uniform look but variable content with the first (August) likely to feature Sandstone fiction. Stuart Campbell’s Boswell’s Bus Pass is now streaming out of the warehouse and coming to be regarded as probably the funniest book published this year. Illustrated with Colin Milne’s drawings it will be snatched from bookshop shelves. Preliminary copies of Zoe Strachan’s ‘Ever Fallen In Love’ have arrived. Guilherme Condeixa’s cover design looks even better on the cover than it does onscreen. There will be a review in the August Scottish Review of Books and other reviews will follow. Zoe will be reading from and discussing the book at the Edinburgh International Book Festival on Sunday 14th August. The book will be launched at Waterstones Sauchiehall Street on the 14th July in an open event. Appreciation for Robert Davidson’s Site Works continues to flow in and we expect reviews in the comong Northwords Now, Scotsman and Scottish Review of Books. Typically, Charles Gorer in the Northern Times: ‘This is a real life engineering project and these are the men and their machines who made it happen and Davidson is their brilliant chronicler.’ Similarly, we expect Scotsman and SRB reviews for Mark Douglas-Home’s The Sea Detective and more appreciation. Chris Dolan had this to say in The Herald: ‘The Sea Detective is extremely moreish, as much for its calm, open prose – a hard trick to pull off – as for its solid storytelling.’ Leslie Symons To Ride the Mountain Winds is also making its mark. Described as ‘a terrific book’ by Helicopter Life we await further reviews. Hamish’s Groats End Walk has been reviewed warmly in TGO and we will post that review when we have it. Also from the outdoors, but working on a more local, Hebridean map, Jonny Muir’s Isles at the Edge of the Sea has gone out in high numbers. In time, not too long, both of these books are going to be recognised as classics. Katy Guest, in the Independent on Sunday said of The Testament of Jessie Lamb by Jane Rogers: ‘You’ll be blown away.’ It was also positively reviewed in the Times Educational Supplement. The first of our quality translations, Norwegian Wenke Muhleisen’s I Should Have Lifted You Carefully Over is now in the warehouse and, again, we await a first review. all readings are uniformly positive and the cover is most attractive. Jotn Lier Horst’s Dregs will be published in August and we will report on that later. We have delayed publication of Martin Moran’s The Munros in Winter until September as a title more suited for the autumn and winter months. Please keep visiting http://www.sandstonepress.com for more news and reviews and, remember, you can download the AI Sheets from the foot of every book page. Much more is on the way and - bookshop managers! - they all sell. 2011-07-05T12:25:03+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/06/2011/summer_lightning/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/06/2011/summer_lightning/ Here in Highland Scotland we have been having some particularly spectacular thunderstorms. In between though, the weather has been superb, offering wonderful views of one of the wold’s most beautiful land and seascapes. No matter about the weather, outdoor types driven temporarily indoors can take refuge in any one of the many fine bookshops now scattered around our area. Let me point first at the Loch Croispol Bookshop near Durness in West Sutherland (stamping ground of The Kerracher Man, Eric Macleod). Kevin Crowe, owner and manager of this fine shop, has now dedicated an area entirely to Sandstone Press books and all reports so far indicate a roaring success. In the same county, but a bit to the south, Achin’s Bookshop in Lochinver is an equally welcoming environment. To give added interest, Achin’s was used as a communications centre for the firefighters during the recent drought induced (yes, that’s how mixed the weather has been!) forest fires. In Lerwick the Shetland Times Bookshop is ever welcoming and the most natural home for Ron McMillan’s Between Weathers, as Nairn Bookshop is for The Long Bridge. In Stromness, Liz ashworth’s Orkney spirit goes like a fair, as it does in The Orcadian bookshop in Kirkwall. It goes on and on, but don’t forget, if you can’t reach our area this year there is always the main High Street trader, Waterstones, your own local bookshop, and the internet. Wencke Muhleisen’s ‘I should have lifted you carefully over’ is now available, and a tender and beautiful book it is. Jonny Muir’s Isles at the Edge of the Sea is also available and, in fact, has sold a third of its print run in only two weeks. We have asked the printer to be ready for a speedy reprint. The Sea Detective by Mark Douglas-Home is selling steadily (signed copies are now available in Waterstones Princes Street) and Robert Davidson’s Site Works looks to be picking up some more appreciative reviews in the near future. We look forward to the launch of Boswell’s Bus Pass, a beautiful, illustrated hardback by Stuart Campbell and artist Colin Milne, in The Music Box, Stevenson College, Edinburgh on Thursday 23rd June at 6.00pm. Please come along if you can. The first two copies arrived on the morning of Robert Davidson’s Site Works reading in Grantown-on-Spey. He took them along to show to Marjory Miller, the vivaceous proprietor of The Bookmark, only to have them wrestled from his grasp and bought at gunpoint by an over-enthusiastic reader. 2011-06-17T10:18:55+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/06/2011/deliveries_and_events/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/06/2011/deliveries_and_events/ We understand that difficulties in delivering to Waterstones continue as they have for most of the year so far. Calls this morning suggest that these difficulties have much to do with the change in ownership which is presently being effected and that the blockage is likely to clear in July. For the sake of our readers we hope so. We value our relationship with the country’s main High Street bookseller, as we do with the many independents we supply, WH Smith and the wholesalers. Customers should not feel thwarted. Sandstone Press books can be purchased from many locations, on the ground and online. Robert Davidson will be signing copies of Site Works at Waterstones Inverness tomorrow (Tuesday, 7th June) and at a more formal launch/reading event in Grantown-on-Spey on Thursday 16th. We have just learned that Mark Douglas-Home will be appearing at Mainstreet Trading, the go-ahead and successful bookshop in the Borders town of St Boswells on Thursday 21st July. We will keep you posted as best we can. Bobbie Darbyshire is still appearing on a weekly basis in the London area and beyond so, if you are in that wide area, please keep an eye open for her. 2011-06-06T12:00:54+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/05/2011/two_fabulous_new_books_have_arrived_._._/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/05/2011/two_fabulous_new_books_have_arrived_._._/ Two fabulous new books have arrived as preliminaries and will be entering the warehouse on Tuesday. Isles at the Edge of the Sea, Jonny Muir’s brilliant (and beautifully written) account of his very challenging journey to St Kilda will knock the heads off all Hebrides lovers. It is destined to be a favourite for many years to come. It has also topped our previous record for pre-publication orders. Don’t miss it! Wencke Muhleisen’s I Should Have Lifted You Over is our first translation from the Norwegian. High quality translation is an area Sandstone Press has been bound for from the outset and this is a great book to start with. Wencke, having herself lived the life of a feisty and independent feminist pioneer, had to come to terms with the impending death of her mother, who had lived in a more conventional style. Her account is poetic, deeply felt, and will stir all women (and men) who have had strong differences of approach and attitude to the generation that has gone before. We have purchased the cover design from its original creator, Blaest Design in Oslo, and had it converted by Rebecca Pickard at Zebedee in Edinburgh. It is a truly beautiful book, beautifully presented. Before you leave http://www.sandstonepress.com don’t miss downloading our current catalogue from the Home Page. You will find it in the Welcome section, but soon we will have it in its own box so you can’t miss it. Happy reading! 2011-05-26T12:30:22+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/05/2011/all_at_sea/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/05/2011/all_at_sea/ The first copies of Mark Douglas-Home’s new thriller The Sea Detective have been leaving the warehouse in high numbers over these two days. You should find them without difficulty in a shop near you. Meantime, to give you a flavour, there will be a review in this coming Saturday’s Herald, that’s the 21st May. Slightly late from the printer we anticipate taking receipt of Jonny Muir’s Isles at the Edge of the Sea next Monday. That’s the the 23rd May. Jonny’s book has already racked up a record number of pre-publication orders so we have high hopes for it. Our new catalogue has been going out to shops all across the UK and we have been following up with calls. So far the response is really good, and we thank all the shop managers who have been giving Eilidh and James such a warm reception. We can’t wait to get to Kevin Crowe’s Loch Croispol Bookshop and Restaurant ( http://bit.ly/m8biEL ) at Balnakiel, near Durness in West Sutherland, to see the special Sandstone Press corner he has made. You can download the catalogue PDF from the Home Page! 2011-05-17T16:01:59+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/05/2011/long_nights_gone_a_welcome_to_spring/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/05/2011/long_nights_gone_a_welcome_to_spring/ Our two April titles, To Ride the Mountain Winds: a history of aerial mountaineering and rescue, by Leslie Symons, and Robert Davidson’s novel, Site Works, have been released with excellent launch events dotted around the country. In addition, our newly redesigned Advance Information Sheets have been sent to retailers and wholesalers across Britain. Our new catalogue, which has been available for download from this site since the 16th April, is now available as hard copy and is also going out. A whole raft of public holidays have perhaps held things up more than we would wish but the Trade is coming out of its semi-hibernation between the Festive Season and spring and things are moving again. Soon our home area will be welcoming its first few thousands of international visitors and we have every intention of making Sandstone Press books easily available for them. Just as we are pressing into shops and warehouses across the wider UK. In this month of May we will be publishing two more wonderful titles. The first of them The Sea Detective by Mark Douglas-Home, will be launched at Waterstones Princes Street, Edinburgh, on the 18th and we do hope you will come along. Details can be found on the shop’s web site and in posters throughout the store. Introductions and questions will be marshalled by the (highly) distinguished journalist and author Magnus Linklater whom we welcome within the Sandstone orbit. Later in the month we will be releasing Isles at the Edge of the Sea, a second travelogue from the talented Jonny Muir; this book even more adventurous than his first - and even more sensitive to environment and population. It also contains sixteen pages of wonderful colour images from the author. Reviews for both of these titles are pending so do, please, keep your eyes open. We understand that transitional difficulties at Waterstones, whose position in the High Street becomes ever more crucial to readers and publishers alike after the demise of several other major retailers, has made the stocking of new titles more sporadic than we would all wish. We need a strong High Street, and that means a strong Waterstones, but we also need the many small, independent book shops which so enliven our communities and give focus to our lives of thought and feeling. Let’s all use these stores, meet there, talk there, exchange ideas and book recommendations. If you are in the Highlands you might meet someone from Sandstone Press in one (or chewing the fat with the excellent staff at Waterstones Inverness), and we certainly look forward to meeting you. 2011-05-04T06:58:14+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/04/2011/new_developments._especially_for_the_benefit_of_the_trade/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/04/2011/new_developments._especially_for_the_benefit_of_the_trade/ Our new catalogue has been prepared and you can download it now from the Home Page. Please do so, and we hope you enjoy your browse. We anticipate delivery of the hard copy catalogues sometime during the week beginning Monday 25th April, in time for Robert Davidson’s Site Works launch at Blackwell’s Bookshop in Edinburgh. The cover is designed by Latte Goldstein at River Design, Edinburgh (Cairngorm John, Boswell’s Bus Pass, and more) and the internal layout by Heather MacPherson at Raspberryhmac (The Fan Tan Players, Love, Revenge & Buttered Scones). If you are in the Trade and would like a hard copy please drop us an email at info@sandstonepress.com Chances are it will be in the post soon anyway. We take endless trouble to create the most attention grabbing covers possible. To complement this we asked Heather to redesign our Advance Information Sheets. Not content with improved functionality she turned them into things of beauty. We have used the new template for each of the fifteen new titles we will be publishing this year (only one still to appear on the web site, and one other cover image), and you can download them from the foot of every book page. Yes, the number is increasing every year. All of this is to give added value and ease of use to the Trade in particular. If you are visiting for the first time after our email round and Trade Bulletin we do hope you not only enjoy your stay but also find it useful. Sandstone Press exists to serve you so please don’t hesitate to email or call. Our reps will be delighted to visit when they are in your area. We think our location in Highland Scotland makes us pretty special, but Sandstone Press travels the mainstream so you can expect the best of contemporary fiction and non-fiction when you take our books into stock. Books that take the eye. Books that sell. 2011-04-16T10:09:14+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/04/2011/sandstone_press_and_the_environment/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/04/2011/sandstone_press_and_the_environment/ Two new books are entering the warehouse now. Leslie Symons’ wonderful To Ride the Mountain Winds already has high pre-orders. Those who are waiting will not be disappointed with this jacketed hardback and its eight pages of black and white historical plates and sixteen of tremendous colour, contemporary plates. Leslie’s account of aircraft in the mountains will not disappoint either. Story after exciting story amounts to a jaw dropping narrative of human endeavour. The book also takes a wise overview not only of environmental impact by aircraft but also environmental contribution. Robert Davidson’s novel, Site Works, takes cognisance of the environment in quite a different way. Nourished by over thirty years of experience in or around construction sites, Site Works is a unique book in its scope and narrative power. As one reader put it (an agent and former publisher, a legend in publishing actually) ‘. . . so visceral and affecting, so original, tackling things that really, one doesn’t often see in print’. What can a bunch of guys assembled to build a sewage works on the coast have to say? Maybe everything. Like responsible people everywhere, Sandstone Press is increasingly concerned about the environment. From Site Works on, all of our books will carry the following statement on the biblio page, or one like it:- ‘Sandstone Press is committed to a sustainable future in publishing, marrying the needs of the company and our readers with those of the wider environment. This book is made from paper certified by the Forest Stewardship Council’. PS: We have three new cover images in Forthcoming. These are for Boswell’s Bus Pass, The Munros in Winter, and Ever Fallen in Love. Designs are by Latte Goldstein of River Design in Edinburgh (bus passes drawn by Colin Milne), Thomas Gravemaker of Gravemaker + Scott in Paris, and new designer Guilherme Condeixa in Lisbon, respectively. 2011-04-05T09:07:53+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/03/2011/developments_beyond_this_space_but_coming_our_way/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/03/2011/developments_beyond_this_space_but_coming_our_way/ Anne Bruce, translater of ‘I should have lifted you carefully over’ by Wencke Muhleisen, and ‘Dregs’ by Jorn Lier Horst, the first two Sandstone Press translations (both already highly successful in Scandinavia) has been in touch with the news that ‘Dregs’ has been short-listed for the Norwegian Riverton Prize (Golden Gun). This is a fine upturn, and much deserved by an author who not only has produced eight successful novels featuring his hero, William Wisting. but who also continues as a practicing policeman himself - in the self-same location and role as Wisting. Take a look here: http://rivertonklubben.wordpress.com/ Also on the European stage, Waterstones bookshop chain looks like changing hands. It appears that founder Tim Waterstone may be on the brink of a takeover with exceedingly rich businessman Alexander Mamut. Take a look here: http://bit.ly/hoBkH5 As ever, Sandstone Press wishes everyone involved in the book trade well in times of great instability. We never forget though, that the most important link in the chain is the reader. 2011-03-28T07:57:34+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/03/2011/hamishs_groats_end_walk_in_on_the_move/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/03/2011/hamishs_groats_end_walk_in_on_the_move/ We are delighted to announce that our latest title, Hamish’s Groats End Walk, has left the warehouse in substantial numbers. You can find it in your local bookshop, or have it ordered by them, at Waterstones across the UK (with a promotional offer in Scotland), and on the internet. Hamish Brown has substantially rewritten his original text and added a new introduction and rather startling (and revealing) afterword. In addition to being a continuing inspiration, Hamish’s Groats End Walk provides a window on a recently departed era and contains two wonderful sections of colour photographs. 2011-03-21T08:51:16+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/03/2011/the_earthquake_and_tsunami_in_japan/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/03/2011/the_earthquake_and_tsunami_in_japan/ As with everyone else, our eyes over the weekend have been on the dreadful tragedy which has struck Japan. The images which have been broadcast have, for the first time, brought the true nature of such an event home to those of us who live far from the edges of those constantly shifting tectonic plates. As I write, the full scale of the disaster is not yet understood, nor indeed is it likely to be measurable. Over the past year Sandstone Press has been in touch with colleagues at the Hong Kong International Book Festival, not so very far away, and our author, Julian Lees, was due to appear there in July. Julian lives in Kuala Lumpur and so is distant from the disaster. Another author, Ron McMillan, lives in Bangkok. We have colleagues with Dymock’s Books in Hong Kong and are in touch with printers there. Everyone in the region is likely to have friends or acquaintances in Japan. Our thoughts and sympathies are with the country in a situation which is already tragic beyond measure and may well worsen. 2011-03-14T08:42:34+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/03/2011/spring_has_sprung_._._/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/03/2011/spring_has_sprung_._._/ . . . the sun is shining right across the Highlands, the buds are budding and the sap is on the rise. Please excuse this sub-Wordsworthian excursion but things are happening. Jane Rogers’s The Testamant of Jessie Lamb was selected as The Herald’s Paperback of the Week with an appreciative review by Alastair Mabbott, and equally highly praised in the Sunday Independent by Katy Guest. The Great Outdoors has reviewed Craig Weldon’s The Weekend Fix so strongly I am thinking about reading it again myself. We expect reviews to start soon on Hamish Brown’s substantially rewritten (and totally re-illustrated and redisigned) Hamish’s Groats End Walk. Jane, Moira Forsyth and Eric MacLeod have been reading to an appreciative public right across the UK, while Bobbie Darbyshire reads from her phenomenally successful Love, Revenge & Buttered Scones every weekend in bookshops across the south east of England. At the same time John Allen has been speaking to full houses across Scotland, promoting mountain safety, enjoyment of the hills, mountain rescue teams generally and the Cairngorm Mountain Rescue Team in particular. By the way, it was a particular pleasure to meet that superb athlete, Manny Gorman, first to run the Corbetts in a single trip, at John’s Inverness event the other night. The proofs of Leslie Symons To Ride the Mountain Winds have been accepted and we await delivery of the first print run (brace yourselves, reviewers) and I could hardly tell you what a pleasure it has been to work on this title with Leslie and his support team. It really is going to be such a beauty, this book, not only totally original in its outlook but opening up an entirely new field. Robert Davidson’s Site Works is also with the printer and we await the proofs. This title is a novel but, we are again convinced, totally original in form and content and unlike anything you have ever read. Those naughty journalists at the Scottish Review of Books have let slip that Zoe Strachan is now a Sandstone author and that her book, due in July, will be titled Ever Been In Love. They don’t know what we are doing with the cover though, or who is designing it. We’ll keep you in suspense on that for the present. Whew! That’s enough for now. Let’s go out and see if the first lambs are born yet. 2011-03-06T13:00:41+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/02/2011/production_design_and_dont_forget_the_warehouse/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/02/2011/production_design_and_dont_forget_the_warehouse/ In a period of unprecedented activity for Sandstone Press, we can announce that we have just gone to print with Leslie Symons beautiful book, To Ride the Mountain Winds, and are about to go to print with Robert Davidson’s Site Works. In their very different ways these two titles meet the practical world of machines and activity with humour, artistic sensibilities, deep feeling and vision. Do look out for them. In design we have Alison Lang’s new Gaelic title Air san Duthaich and, in anticipation of an announcement we are not quite in a position to make, a new title from one of Britain’s most exciting novelists. Latte Goldstein at River Design in Edinburgh is now focussing on Alison’s book and, a new designer to Scotland and the UK, Guilherme Condeixa in Lisbon (but bound for Edinburgh) will be designing for Zo . . . Oops, almost gave it away! The BookSource warehouse in Cambuslang is also busy. As I write, Jane Rogers’ amazing The Testament of Jessie Lamb is leaving in numbers for bookshops across the UK and for Amazon. You can read Alastair Mabbott’s Herald review as a Sandstone blog. Hamish’s Brown’s Groats End Walk is chalking up substantial pre-orders and will be released in March. It is perhaps interest in this title that has prompted the recent flurry of activity over Craig Weldon’s The Weekend Fix. Hamish speaks highly of Craig’s book in his new introduction, and indeed frequently elsewhere. You can read Carey Davies’s new TGO review, and Mike Dixon’s from the SMC Yearbook, both as Sandstone Blogs. Translation work on our two Norwegian titles also advances and we anticipate releasing Wencke Muhleisen’s moving I Should Have Lifted You Carefully Over in June, and Jorn Lier Horst’s William Wisting mystery, Dregs, in August. Jorm Lier’s policeman hero is already a great favourite in Scandinavia and is destined to be a great hit here. Respectively, Rebecca Pickard at Zebedee and Latte Goldstein have adapted the original covers for an English-language readership. Unmentioned so far are Mark Douglas-Home’s first novel, The Sea Detective and Stuart Campbell’s Boswell’s Bus Pass, which we have now decided to publish as a hardback, and which will be delightfully illustrated by Colin Milne. Colin brings both his talents as a master of spontaneous sketching and finely detailed drawings influenced by his career in architecture to the page. Mark, you will know, is not only a distinguished former editor of The Herald but also part of the same literary family which has produced the playright William Douglas-Home and the journalist, James. Literature in the blood! Readers of outdoor and mountain literature will note from our Forthcoming page that we have signed Martin Moran and will be bringing out his The Munros in Winter in July. Next year we will follow with his famous Alps 4000. These books will have the same look as Hamish Brown’s classics with design by Gravemaker + Scott. This coming half year (and beyond) marks a significant upload of activity for the Publisher in the Highlands, rapidly increasing our list size, but also our international and UK scope. Please do keep visiting this web site, and keep an eye out for Sandstone Press for the best in contemporary, quality reading. 2011-02-21T11:59:10+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/02/2011/the_testament_of_jessie_lamb_in_the_herald/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/02/2011/the_testament_of_jessie_lamb_in_the_herald/ An important review of Jane Rogers’ The Testament of Jessie Lamb will appear in The Herald tomorrow, Saturday 12th February 2011 and we are very happy to draw it too our visitors’ attention. Copies of the book will be leaving the warehouse soon to appear in the shops on the 25th. More good news is on the way. Please do keep visiting us at http://www.sandstonepress.com 2011-02-11T12:52:52+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/02/2011/the_university_of_the_highlands_and_islands_-_sounds_good/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/02/2011/the_university_of_the_highlands_and_islands_-_sounds_good/ UHI Millennium Institute has become the new University of the Highlands and Islands. The culmination of much recently focussed work, a long period prior to that of reconstruction and bedding in, before that the frequent recurrence of what must have seemed like an impossible, visionary dream, the University of the Highlands and Islands has now been confirmed by a simple, but seismic, approval from the Privy Council. Our region’s new university has passed its most significant milestone but will have, by no means, stopped growing. Already described as a ‘powerhouse for the economic, social and cultural development of the region’ by its Chair, Professor Matthew MacIvor, it will be all of that. In addition it is massively confirmatory and a committment to the future. Highland Scotland’s identity, and that of its university is, and will continue to be, not only different from the rest of Scotland and Britain but also unique in the world. It has hardly been noticed that a considerable mass and momentum has been gathering in the north for perhaps half a century, or that the curve has recently turned sharply upwards. Greener, cleaner, and by now thoroughly cosmopolitan, a great city is in the making in one of the world’s most beautiful landscapes. As one powerhouse for change to another we bid our new university welcome from the bottom of our bookish heart. 2011-02-02T07:30:46+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/01/2011/jane_rogers_exciting_new_title_will_appear_this_month/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/01/2011/jane_rogers_exciting_new_title_will_appear_this_month/ Sandstone Press is delighted to announce the publication in this coming month of Jane Rogers’ new title, The Testament of Jessie Lamb. We are over the moon to welcome Jane to our increasingly impressive list of authors. She enhances it strongly, but she would enhance the lists of much bigger companies. Her earlier work, Mr Wroe’s Virgins, was turned into a successful television series. More recently, her novel, Island, has been filmed and will be shown at the coming Glasgow Film Festival. Jane is both nationally and internationally known, not only as a novelist but also as a radio scriptwriter and womens’ activist. She was recently active in Uganda, as you can read in her recent guest Sandstone blog. In The Testament of Jessie Lamb Jane Rogers’s enters new and difficult territory that will provoke fiery discussion among feminists, environmentalists and Christians alike. Told from the perspective of a young adult woman, still at school, she explores dangerous adult territory, much as William Golding did with The Lord of the Flies and J D Salinger with The Catcher in the Rye, in a book that is as engrossing as it is disturbing. This one is not to be missed. By the way, we will be announcing the signing of another distinguished woman novelist in the near future. This one was accounted one of the top twenty young novelists in Britain by the Independent on Sunday, and will be listed among the top ten young Scottish novelists in the next Scottish Review of Books. Watch this space! 2011-01-31T19:11:39+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/01/2011/j_f_print_yeovil_somerset/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/01/2011/j_f_print_yeovil_somerset/ Today we learned with great sadness that J F Print of Yeovil in Somerset has gone into liquidation. This excellent, long established print company produced five titles for us in 2010, not least our flagship biography ‘Beyond the Last Dragon’ by James McGonigal. My understanding is that the management team were able to produce figures to show that, with support, the company could return to profit in a few months but that, nonetheless, the banks would not support them. This seems to be typical of our time. The obvious truth that to have faith and invest in our industry is to have faith and invest in our people seems to be forgotten. Anything less is to abandon the future to tumbleweed and dust. It has been a pleasure to work with J F Print, as it is with our other printers, both here and in Poland, but they are not the first to go down of late. Towards the end of 2009 Atheneum Press, printers of the hardback edition of Cairngorm John, went into administration. More recently the first company I had the pleasure of working with, while Managing Editor of Northwords Magazine, Cromwell Press also failed. Cromwell Press printed the beautiful ‘Fickle Man’ for us. I have found both employees and management of all these companies to be decent, hard working people and do not believe that they deserve this fate. We send our best wishes to them all and wish them a speedy return to employment. All industries go through periods of reshaping, often for good reasons, and they are always painful. There is something wasteful and stupid though, about this degree of short sightedness. At Sandstone Press our purpose is unchanged: to bring the best possible reading we can find, efficiently edited and delightfully presented, to an intelligent and discriminating reading public. With our remaining colleagues, not only printers but also authors, designers, typesetters and everyone in the Trade, we will strive in this direction and work to rebuild the economy, or at least our small part. The best response is to live well. Let’s continue to do that. Robert Davidson Managing Director Sandstone Press Ltd 2011-01-27T20:09:40+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/01/2011/the_new_scots_makar_poet_laureate_will_be_liz_lochead/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/01/2011/the_new_scots_makar_poet_laureate_will_be_liz_lochead/ All of us at Sandstone Press are delighted to learn that Liz Lochhead has been chosen to follow Edwin Morgan as Scotland’s Poet Laureate, known as the Scots Makar. A close friend of Edwin Morgan she is also part of that approximate grouping of west central Scotland writers which includes him, Alasdair Gray and James Kelman. Over the year’s Liz Lochead’s work has ranged widely across poetry with such titles as Bagpipe Muzak and Dreaming Frankenstein, and plays such as Mary Queen of Scots Got Her Head Chopped Off and Perfect Days. In these parts we still recall Maureen Beattie’s Eden Court performance of Medea with chilled blood. 2011-01-19T16:01:25+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/01/2011/new_books_on_the_way/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/01/2011/new_books_on_the_way/ We are delighted to report that preliminary copies of The Testament of Jessie Lamb by Jane Rogers have arrived here at Sandstone Towers. With a cover based on the fabulous work of Kirstie Cohen (see our Links page) giving a genuine feel for the endangered and troubling world between the covers, this book is going to further enhance Jane Rogers’ already shining reputation. Trade can pre-order now and readers can do the same on the internet, or by marching into their local independent book shop and demanding that copies be available on day of release. Hamish’s Groats End Walk is now at the printer and this new version of Hamish Brown’s classic book, about his long walk through Britain and Ireland, is going to be its most splendid production yet. Fit to match last year’s revolutionary edition of Hamish’s Mountain Walk, now working its way through its first reprint. Soon we will have the cover of Dregs by Jorn Lier Horst in Forthcoming, the latest in his series of William Wisting mysteries. Already fantastically successful in his native Norway, William Wisting is the principal character in the latest great crime series from Scandinavia. Following in the well trodden footsteps of Henning Mankell’s Wallander and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, it is going to have you clinging to the edge of your seat. A rather special novel to look out for will be Site Works by Robert Davidson. Most recently this writer has worked with John Allen on Cairngorm John and Remzije Sherifi on Shadow Behind the Sun, books which, between them, were short listed for three national and international awards. Take a look at Forthcoming for the cover. More will follow in due course but one thing is certain. You have never read a book quite like this. Now please do take time to explore the rest of our ever changing web site, and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter. 2011-01-09T11:19:50+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/01/2011/happy_new_year1/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/01/2011/happy_new_year1/ All of us at Sandstone Press in Highland Scotland, the Board and our associates, authors, designers and typesetter wish our web site visitors, colleagues of every stamp and, most of all, our readers all the best for 2011. 2011-01-04T18:14:32+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/12/2010/for_the_trade_cairngorm_john_stock/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/12/2010/for_the_trade_cairngorm_john_stock/ We are pleased to let you know that the reprint of Cairngorm John (paperback version) will be with BookSource on Wednesday 8th. We ran out on Friday having been expecting more copies by last midweek. Difficulties is paper procurement caused delay, as has the inclement weather. These problems have thankfully been overcome and the book is now reprinted and awaiting dispatch. Between this, recent reprints of Between Weathers, The Kerracher Man, and Love, Revenge & Buttered Scones we have endeavoured to maintain supplies in advance of the Festive Season and just about managed it - by the skin of our teeth! As an aside I should say that we are also awaiting delivery of what will be our first publication of 2011, The Testament of Jessie Lamb by Jane Rogers. Keep your eye out for pre-publication publicity. 2010-12-06T10:45:55+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/11/2010/wild_geese_overhead/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/11/2010/wild_geese_overhead/ The title above is actually the title of one of Neil Gunn’s less well known novels. It has been prompted by the high, I dare say huge, numbers of geese flying over Sandstone Towers these days. A delight as much to the ears as to the eyes they carry their message of annual renewal to these parts and have done since time immemorial, and you can find reference to that fact in John Allen’s geat title Cairngorm John, which is forging its way through the festive waters already. Yes, the great festivals of Christmas and New Year are on their way. It is a time of gifts as everyone anticipates, some with joy and others with resignation, and can their be any better gift than a book? They carry knowledge knowledge, entertainment, mental excercise, escape and are decorations about the house as well as signs of what we are. This year in the shops we have added four novels to our list, our first but very much not our last. Liz Ashworth’s Orkney Spirit is both of use and great beauty and we believe that anyone, although especially those with Northern Isles connections, would want it on their bookshelves (and in their kitchens). Speaking of the Northern Isles, Ron McMillan’s Between Weathers is still THE book to read on Shetland and we take this opportunity to congratulate both Ron and Jim Brown of B4 Films on their initiative for Between Weathers, the film of the same name.  Judging by the content of their web site the project is set fair for 2011. Simon Varwell has also published an extremely witty travel book with us, the first on his now legendary Mullet hunt around the world, Up the Creek without a Mullet. James McGonigal’s biography of Edwin Morgan, Beyond the Last Dragon, has probably made the biggest splash in other media and we note with satisfaction that its reception is amplifying as it travels. Best wishes to you all this Festive Season. Please do take a look at our books. We are sure you will find great reading there for your family and friends, and don’t neglect yourself. We are busying ourselves with next year’s list, so keep watching this space. 2010-11-22T09:19:54+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/11/2010/from_northern_latitudes/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/11/2010/from_northern_latitudes/ Having enjoyed two fabulous launch events for The Long Bridge in Edinburgh and Nairn we look forward to the title’s continuing advance into the popular consciousness. Urszula Muskus, the author, was a Polish woman who ended her days in England having left her gripping manuscript in bundles on the floor. It is a great story, and one that deserves to live. The legacy of those times will never leave us and we have no better means of dealing with it than the spirit Urszula carried across the tundra and that lives in us all - if only we can summon it up. Beyond the Last Dragon, James McGonigal’s brilliant biography of Edwin Morgan, has already received outstanding coverage in the Scottish media. There is more to come, and it looks like this good and positive attention is about to extend into some high level publications south of the border. We are also pleased to report (more than pleased actually, the skies over Highland have been darkened once again by soaring Glengarry bonnets) that Remzije Sherifi’s Shadow Behind the Sun has just appeared in translation in Ukraine, the first of our titles to take such a step. We have copies left, don’t miss this great story. The Long Bridge is our last publication of 2010 and we look now to the Festive Season (rushing inexorably towards us) with great optimism. The books we have published this year (including/especially the four novels - see the Fiction page), together with those we carry forward from previous years, will enhance any bookshelf and we commend them all as great reading and as gifts. We are also close to the major announcement I have been promising for some time. Still teasing, I’m afraid; but it involves the north in a crucial way, and the literature of another land that we feel nonetheless very close to. Again, more to follow. 2011 will be a year of further advance for Sandstone Press. Please do take a look at the books on our Forthcoming page. Already we are working on the covers (and some of the texts) of these titles. Several more are in the pipline and will be on view soon. Together they will make a formidable list that should make not only the most important people in our lives - the readers - sit up but also the Trade and the Press. Please do keep visiting. More news will follow very soon. Our next title will be The Testament of Jessie Lamb by Jane Rogers. Jane’s latest novel (following Mr Wroe’s Virgins and, more recently, Island and The Voyage Home is utterly compelling and will give food for thought, discussion and, no doubt, argument to environmentalists, feminists and those many people who are thinking and rethinking on religion at the moment. It is also a grippping read. Let me leave you with a word about our new Marketing and Publicity person, Eilidh Smith. Eilidh has joined us as a bundle of ideas and energy and has already revitalised our communications with the media as well as improved our organisation of launches and direct sales. Keep a weather eye open for all Sandstone Press publicity, which there will be much more of. Now please do take the time to explore the Sandstone Press web site. Please do extend your visit. 2010-11-06T10:39:48+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/10/2010/crossing_the_long_bridge/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/10/2010/crossing_the_long_bridge/ On Wednesday 3rd November Sandstone Press will be launching The Long Bridge by Urszula Muskus at Nairn Community Centre. The author’s grandson, Peter Muskus, who is also her literary guardian, will be in conversation with editor Robert Davidson and there will be wine and other refreshments. Readings will be by Peter’s daughter, Josephine Muskus, Urszula’s grandaughter. This event follows an excellent launch at Blackwell’s Bookshop in Edinburgh where Peter was in conversation with John Watson, Director of Amnesty International Scotland. This delightful evening was organised by the super efficient Ann Landmann, of Blackwells, and Siobhan Reardon of Amnesty. Readings were by that very talented actrress, Gowan Calder, in an evening that no one who was there is likely to forget. 2010-10-31T09:41:41+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/10/2010/on_on_onwards_to_the_long_bridge/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/10/2010/on_on_onwards_to_the_long_bridge/ The Last Dragon event at the Mitchell Library in Glasgow on Monday evening went like a dream. Introduced by editor Moira Forsyth, author James McGonigal read from the work and spoke directly to a large and lively audience before going into a question and answer session with Jim Carruth of Glitterball, Robyn Marsack, Director of the Scottish Poetry Library, and Prof Alan Riach of Glasgow University. The audience participated enthusiastically. We were extremely delighted to meet Sharon Raulson, who features so strongly in Remzije Sherifi’s Shadow Behind the Sun, and her toddler Marco, and to learn that Nuna and Charlotte are now not only British citizens and working happily. They have also been reunited with the children they were so cruelly separated from and we rejoice with them. Bravo! We can also let you know that Managing Director Robert Davidson was in discussion about an exciting new title which we expect to appear in the second half of 2011. We will leave that there, a bit of a tease, but - what would you expect. Arrived today are the office copies of The Long Bridge by Urszula Muskus and - good news! - the first reprint of Bobbie Darbyshire’s Love, Revenge & Buttered Scones which has been plagued with delays beyond our control. Both books are super productions from JF Print in Somerset and The Long Bridge sports the first cover prepared for us by Rebecca Pickard at Zebedee Design. It won’t be the last. We will be launching The Long Bridge next week at Blackwells South Bridge, Edinburgh, and afterwards in Nairn. More to follow on those soon. All our copies are already gone to review and we expect a major feature in the Daily Record on Saturday, including pictures of Urszula in pre-War Poland and later at Krasnoyarsk, which translates as Long Bridge. The last word though, belongs to James McGonigal and Beyond the Last Dragon. Jim has produced a work of real significance which, in addition to being a great read, is going to last for many years as the principal reference work on Edwin Morgan. It is also a tremendous academic achievement. 2010-10-19T16:12:00+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/10/2010/the_last_dragon_flies_over_the_mitch/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/10/2010/the_last_dragon_flies_over_the_mitch/ James McGonigal will be presenting his great biography of EdwinMorgan tonight (Monday 18th October, 6.00pm for 6.30), and participating in a panel Q&A with Robyn Marsack of the Scottish Poetry Library, Jim carruth of St Mungo’s Mirrorball, Prof Alan Riach of Glasgow University. Please do come along if you can. 2010-10-18T09:02:20+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/10/2010/shading_into_autumn/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/10/2010/shading_into_autumn/ As the leaves start to fall (isn’t that a song?) the book trade’s thoughts turn inevitably towards the Festive Season. Sandstone Press already has a considerable presence on the bookshops’ groaning boards. Beyond the Last Dragon, James McGonigal’s brilliant biography of Edwin Morgan, just about kissed goodbye to the first half of its first print run two weeks after first appearing. Those Edwin Morgan enthusiasts who would (very sensibly) wish to own a first flush copy had better get their skates on. The paperback version of Cairngorm John has sold a similar amount in exactly the same time and, to our delight, has stimulated interest in our few remaining hardback copies. In a couple of weeks we will be launching The Long Bridge at Blackwells in Edinburgh, following with a Highland launch at the Nairn Community Centre. This book is a tremedous, unputdownable read which will be enjoyed by both sexes. Put the word out about this one if you can. Its sheer quality remains just too much of a secret. Orkney Spirit, Up the Creek Without a Mullet, and the wonderful Hamish’s Mountain Walk all present colourful cases to be included in someone’s stocking so get them while you can. Our four novels to date are also doing more than well. Love, Revenge & Buttered Scones, tell me Where You Are, Yin Yang Tattoo, and The Fan Tan Players are all superb reads. When you are out shopping you might just pop one in the basket for yourself. 2010-10-14T15:15:40+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/10/2010/frankfurt_book_fair/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/10/2010/frankfurt_book_fair/ Frankfurt Book fair is now in full swing and we have some colleagues across there. So, if you are looking in, best wishes to James Benson, Edwin Hawkes, Marion Sinclair and the team from Publishing Scotland. An especially big hello to Eva Lie-Nielsen of Gyldendal Publishing of Oslo. 2010-10-06T07:59:25+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/09/2010/new_appointment_signals_ambition_for_growth_from_sandstone_press/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/09/2010/new_appointment_signals_ambition_for_growth_from_sandstone_press/ Sandstone Press is delighted to announce the appointment of Eilidh Smith who will be undertaking marketing and publicity for the Highland based company. Eilidh will be first point of contact for press, broadcast and internet journalists, as well as festival and other event organisers. She will be working with authors to assist them in the promotion of their books and will be involved in the planning and delivery of marketing programmes. Eilidh has previously held an editorial position with DC Thomson, and marketing and publicity posts with both Glasgow Caledonian University and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. Originally from Gairloch in Wester Ross Eilidh now lives in Strathpeffer. Managing Director Robert Davidson said: “We are very pleased to welcome this highly competent and enthusiastic woman into the company. I am confident that Eilidh will bring innovation to our marketing and publicity systems in addition to a high level of professionalism. This appointment signifies the continued growth of Sandstone Press and, in addition to the better promotion of our books, should further establish our reputation as one of the most progressive and ambitious publishing houses in Britain.” IMAGES AVAILABLE TO DOWNLOAD http://www.sendspace.com/file/9odkqe http://www.sendspace.com/file/lxcpdz 2010-09-29T11:18:16+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/09/2010/between_weathers_the_movie/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/09/2010/between_weathers_the_movie/ The latest exciting news from Lerwick (via Bangkok) is that Ron McMillan’s idea for a drama titled Between Weathers and located in Shetland is really on the move. B4 Films has met several times with the Shetland authorities who have smiled generously on the project and lots of practical moves have already been made. The principal location will be Fetlar and auditions have been carried out with locals. A musical director has been appointed in the highly talented, experienced and accomplished Kennedy Aitchison. The new Between Weathers web site is up at http://www.betweenweathers.com and we understand that Ron’s picture and biography will be up soon as part of ‘The Team’. You can also view a first video blog by B4’s Jim Brown here http://bit.ly/bZcVvH Please do visit for lots of information and good things such as pictures of the auditions and many delightful portraits of Shetland, Fetlar in particular. We will report again in due course but these are exciting developments for Shetland and Ron. Move over Local Hero!  2010-09-28T07:28:42+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/09/2010/on_stream_again/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/09/2010/on_stream_again/ We are relieved to report that BookSource, having worked day and night since their systems went down, now have everything up and running again. This terminology is beginning to look old fashioned, isn’t it? I should be writing ‘online’, not ‘on stream’, and ‘downloading’, not ‘up and running’. Beyond the Last Dragon and Cairngorm John (paperback) are streaming out (downloading) into the shops and online warehouses. A few Last Dragons have reached their shelves early and I hear that normally mild mannered civil servant types are fighting to the death over them. Patience, chaps - more are on the way. Cairngorm John is being ordered by the box load. Don’t delay, get your copies before we run out. Bobbie Darbyshire’s Love, Revenge & Buttered Scones has gone to reprint after some supply difficulties that were out of not only our control but also BookSource’s. The Long Bridge, Urszula Muskus’s account of her years in the gulags is also being printed now and we have been promised that both books will be with BookSource on the 11th October. If this means you are having to wait for your copy of Bobbie’s classic we sincerely apologise, and sincerely promise that it will be worth the wait. Incidentally, do not underestimate the importance of Urszula’s book. Her gripping narrative will keep you turning pages until you get to the end, but your view of recent European history, possibly rather abstract before you start, will be decently humanised by the time you are done. Writing this I quietly turn a thought towards the murdered Anna Politkovskaya, Remzije Sherifi and the strength of European women living under tyranny. Our great thanks go to our friends and colleagues at BookSource who have worked so hard to get the books moving again. 2010-09-22T16:20:29+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/09/2010/distribution_delays/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/09/2010/distribution_delays/ We apologise to all of our followers both in the Trade and, most especially, general readership for the delays in distribution over the past few days. A catastrophic systemic breakdown was suffered by our distributor on Thursday and work was continued day and night to bring the book stream back into operation. Normal service has now been resumed in terms of books going out and, we understand, information systems will soon follow. Sandstone Press has not been the only publisher to be affected but, of course, it is to our own clients and followers that our thoughts turn. Beyond the Last Dragon and the paperback of Cairngorm John arrived at the depot of Thursday and will be leaving for the shops just as quickly as possible. We hope readers in Scotland enjoyed The Herald’s article on Friday and the seven fabulous pages of extracts and photographs they ran between Saturday and Sunday. Author James McGonigal also had a brilliant article on the book published in Saturday’s Scotsman. Now, we are looking towards The Long Bridge and next year’s rapidly growing programme. 2010-09-20T07:23:54+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/09/2010/dragons_breath/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/09/2010/dragons_breath/ Keep your eyes open for The Herald on Saturday and Sunday and don’t worry if you are living furth of Scotland ( as the hillwalkers say). You will find them on the internet at http://www.heraldscotland.com There will be significant extracts from James McGonigal’s Beyond the Last Dragon: a life of Edwin Morgan, and it looks mighty like Rosemary Goring and her team will using Last Dragon images on the front of their two arts pull outs. They will also be running special offers for the book at a whopping 20% off. Yes, the Company Secretary cried out in protest - but we just ignored him. All you have to do is call our distributor, BookSource (number provided), whisper the code words ‘Dragon’s Breath’ and, with the passage of your card details (or a cheque for the determinedly old fashioned) a copy shall be yours. Stuart Kelly, the Scotsman’s acting Books Editor (while David Robinson is off) tells me he will be running a really great piece by James McGonigal himself which is not to be missed. If you can’t get your hands on a copy please visit http://www.scotsman.com The books are printed now, as is the paperback version of Cairngorm John, and both will be in the warehouse ere the week’s end. Nic Webb of Broomfield Books, our reps in the south east of England, tells me that significant interest is being shown in his area for The Long Bridge. It went to print today. 2010-09-15T14:58:25+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/09/2010/the_last_dragon_rises/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/09/2010/the_last_dragon_rises/ The proofs for Beyond the Last Dragon: a life of Edwin Morgan by James McGonigal have now been checked and the last phase of production has begun. We began this project four and a half years ago after a brainstorming session here in Sandstone Towers. How good it was that our investigations to us to James McGonigal, surely the best possible biographer for the great poet. Since then we have watched the pieces fit together, enjoyed new friendships, commissioned and received Suzanne Gyseman’s wonderful cover image, put the photo section together. We have suffered setbacks from time to time, never more so than in the final run in, with the death of Edwin Morgan being especially poignant. That said, it is going to be a great book. Keep your eyes open for it from about the 24th. Impressive applications for our Marketing Post have come in from Dorset to Orkney, and we are humbled by the quality of the applications. This being so it is going to take us a little while to choose a short leet and move to the next phase. If you are one of the applicants I thank you for the care you have put in and for your enthusiasm for Sandstone Press. We will be in touch as soon as possible. Right now, Moira Forsyth is going through the letters and CVs with care and, when she reports, we will be in touch again. Meantime we all have to be parient. Thank you again. 2010-09-01T17:41:50+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/08/2010/hot_from_the_printers/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/08/2010/hot_from_the_printers/ The second reprint of Ron McMillan’s hugely popular ‘Between Weathers: travels in 21st century Shetland’ has just arrived from the printer. The first copies are going out today and we apologise for the slight pause in supplies when stock, briefly, ran out. Between Weathers has a natural home in the Shetland Times Bookshop in Lerwick but can also be found on the ferries, on the internet, and in good bookshops everywhere. The increasingly important ‘Beyond the Last Dragon: a life of Edwin Morgan’ is at proof stage and we expect copies to arrive in the warehouse on the week commencing the 13th September. The new paperback version of ‘Cairngorm John:: a life in mountain rescue’ is also at proof stage but is just ahead in the print queue. We are looking forward tremendously to both publications. After that we are looking forward to ‘The Long Bridge’ by Urszula Muskus launching in Edinburgh with Amnesty International - and please do checkout the cover of ‘The Testament of Jessie Lamb’ by Jane Rogers which is now on our Forthcoming page. Don’t forget to visit the Blogspot while you are here! 2010-08-25T07:48:39+00:00